Devil Inside
by Rowena DeVandal
Summary: Sequel to Torn Asunder, continuing the saga of Logan and Angela. Adversaries from their past come back to haunt them. AU, blatantly ignores X:3. Rated M, language and content. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the X-Men, Fox and Marvel do...this includes Logan, much to my dismay...I'm simply borrowing them for my own amusement...Angela and Buzz do belong to me, along with several other characters that will be introduced as the story progresses...hands off of them, they don't like it when other people touch them...

**Author's Note:** The title of this story has no connection whatsoever to the title of any songs...it just fits the overall theme of the piece...also, this story picks up a couple weeks after "Torn Asunder"...if you haven't read that yet, I strongly suggest that you do so or else stuff in this one won't make sense...enjoy!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Devil Inside**

Prologue

A slight figure made its way furtively through the forest at the southern edge of the nameless island in Hudson Bay. At first glance, you would mistake it for a slender human, its movements reminiscent of a master of ballet. On closer inspection, you see that the figure is not human. Its features have a distinctly Oriental cast, yet also feline in nature. This image is further borne out by the slender tail whipping back and forth behind it.

It watches as a sleek black jet rises from the water and shoots off into the night. There are people on that jet who recently liberated it from captivity, though they don't realize that yet. It saw one of them, saw him and recognized him. It also knows the recognition wasn't shared. It takes a moment to wonder why he was there in the first place. It's been more than fifteen years since he was part of the team. Fifteen years since he made a gloriously bloody escape with Hellcat.

Hellcat. The word conjures images of promises made and broken by its surrogate father, William Stryker. They were to be mated, together for life, bound by forces beyond the natural. It had been assured that she would love it forever, give it children it could bring up in it's own image. It had been training for the day it would be sent out into the world to find her, to bring its mate back home. But Father died before she could be brought home and left his most valuable creation alone. It didn't care about that anymore. It knew what it had to do, to keep the memory of Father alive.

With a final glance to the sky where the jet had disappeared, the figure slinked through the shadows to the docks at the other side of the hidden base. It had a long way to go and a lot of work ahead of it before all was said and done. It only had two objectives now that it had been released.

It had to bring Hellcat home.

It had to kill Wolverine.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 1.

(Logan)

It had been two weeks since that bitch Anissa took me from the mansion. We were still piecing together how that happened and with help from Buzz, we figured it out. Seems she really was a telepath, but she was also a shapeshifter. Unlike Mystique, she still looked human in her normal form, so it was easier for her to move about undetected. What we didn't know was that she held the same exact look for the past twenty-five years. The files Buzz managed to decode indicated she was forty-five years old. Talk about holding on to your youth.

He was still in the process of decoding the rest of the information on the disks and hard drives we'd taken from the base. The files Angela had found on us didn't tell us much that we didn't already know. There was nothing in mine that gave any clues as to what I'd been doing prior to their capturing me. I had a few vague memories about the Canadian Special Forces, but that could have been from any point in my unnatural life. If I sound bitter it's because I am. Sue me.

The only useful thing in my file was confirmation that I did have some kind of implant in my brain. Chuck had that Dr. Endicott come back and do some kind of scan. Since the adamantium on my bones makes a normal MRI impossible, she had to go in with a probe through my sinus cavity. The bad part about that was the lack of anesthetic. It just doesn't work on me. So we had to be content with me biting on a strip of leather and gripping Angela's hand for dear life. It's a good thing she's got adamantium on her bones too or else I'd have crushed it a hundred times over.

The good news? The thing was in there and working perfectly. The bad news? She wasn't sure it could be removed or disabled without causing massive trauma. I was pretty sure I would heal from even that, but she wasn't. That's the problem with human doctors. They think they know everything. Jean would have known what to do. The thought made my chest tighten even as I felt a pang of guilt at the pain. I love Angela with every fiber of my being. But Jean was special to me, too and I couldn't help but miss her. At any rate, I thanked the doctor and got the hell out of the infirmary. Part of the mansion or not, I wasn't in the mood to be in anything that looked like a lab for a long time.

Which brings me to the present, two weeks after Angela mounted a desperate mission to bring me home. I know why she did it. It's because she loves me. She'll tell anyone asks that she did it to keep the world safe from me, but I know better. She also knew her enemy better than they knew her. They trained her too well and she turned every ounce of it against them. It would be a long time before they tried anything that stupidagain. They'd have to come up with something we couldn't plan for to get past the security upgrades Buzz put in. Angela's right about that kid; if computer use could be a mutation, then he had it tenfold.

I was sitting on the patio enjoying an after dinner cigar when the door opened behind me. My nose told me it was Rogue, who joined me more often than not at this time. "Hey kid. How's it goin'?"

"Not too bad. You holdin' up ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

She nodded and fell silent again. I puffed on my cigar, listening to the sounds of the mansion winding down for the evening, the crickets in the grass and distant sounds of traffic off Greymalkin Lane. This is my favorite time of day, the moments just before true night falls. The day holds no mystery and the night is when I'd always done the best (or worst) of my work. The moments in between were always the best.

Rogue cleared her throat, breaking the silence. "Did Angela tell you that Scott didn't want us to go after you?" She asked and I could hear the tension in her voice.

"Yeah, she did." I replied, flicking the ash off my cigar. "I can understand it. There were too many variables you guys didn't know about. Anythin' coulda gone wrong."

"Have you talked to him about it yet?"

I snorted. "What is there to say? 'Hey Cyke! Heard you wanted to let me twist in the wind. Care to explain?' Yeah, that'll go over real well."

"He shouldn't have done that. We could have stopped them if…"

"Rogue…Marie. Listen to me." I turned to her and gave her a hard look. "If I had been in his shoes, I don't know if I would have come after me either. There are times when it's best to step back and regroup. That was one of them and it turned out for the best in the end anyway. Don't blame him for doin' what he thought was right."

She nodded but I could tell she wasn't convinced. "Did Angela tell you why I went with her against his orders?"

I shook my head. "No, she didn't. But I would have expected it anyway."

"I told her…" She trailed off and swallowed hard before continuing. "I told her I had to. Because I love you too."

Oh shit. Here it goes. "Rogue, listen to me…"

"No, let me finish." She said, cutting me off. "I do. Love you, that is. But not like she does and not like you love her." She turned to me, her big brown eyes shimmering with tears. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me. For a long time, I used to think that maybe, when I got older, you'd look at me different and then what I was feelin' would be ok. But then you brought her back and I can see it, what it is between you. I don't feel anythin' like that, not even close. I look at you and I know it's forever for you. I know there's nothin' I could ever do or be to change that." She swallowed again, fighting her tears. "When you were missin', I thought I would die if I lost you. But I realized it wasn't because I was in love with you, it was because I was losing the person I look at like a…a brother or a father even. I was losin' the only family I had." She finally lost her battle and two fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

I was dumbstruck. How do you respond to something like that? "Rogue, I don't know what to say." Is what came out and I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"You don't have to say anythin'. I just wanted you to know." She said, wiping her tears with a gloved hand. "And I wanted to tell you that if you ever do anythin' like that to me again, I'll have to kill you."

I laughed and she joined me with a weak giggle. "I promise, I won't get kidnapped again, ok?"

"Better not."

I gave her a quick kiss on top of her head and let her go. It touched me that she thought of me as family. I don't have any memories of any kind of family in my life, just loneliness, pain and horror. Except for Angela and now this place, Xavier's mansion. We sat there a little longer before she said goodnight and went back inside. I finished my cigar as the last of the light left the sky and I stood up and stretched. I took a quick walk around the perimeter, checking to make sure everything was secure before heading back inside. No sense in letting a perfectly good opportunity to hopefully bust some heads go to waste. Unfortunately, the only thing I encountered was a raccoon rambling along the trail. Pity.

As I made my way back to the patio, the door opened and Angela stepped outside. She smiled when she saw me and met me halfway. "Hello tiger." I said, wrapping my arms around her. "Everythin' ok inside?"

"Yeah. Some of the girls want to have a slumber party tomorrow night and they invited me." She replied with a grimace. "I never had those when I was a girl. I just know there'll be giggling and hair braiding. I hate having my hair braided."

I laughed and kissed her before pulling her close. "Rogue came to me earlier with quite the bombshell." I said.

"Yeah, I know. She came to me first." She replied, pulling away a little. "I told her she had to tell you because you have a right to know."

I raised my eyebrow at her. "Really? What'd she tell you?"

She giggled. "I can't tell you that! It violates the girl talk rules."

I shook my head and we went back into the mansion. Life had finally settled back into what passed for normal around here. We made our way to our room and Angela paused just long enough to check in with Bobby down in the security center. Once she got the green light, she turned to me and slid her hands under my shirt. I growled and lowered my head to kiss her, burying my hands in her hair. She answered with a growl of her own then shoved me back on the bed and pounced on me. I smiled and pulled her back down to me, just enjoying the feeling of her on top of me. She sat up, straddling me and reached over to turn off the light on the nightstand. Moonlight streamed through the windows, bathing her in an unearthly silver glow that only made her more beautiful than she already is. She slowly peeled off her tank top before stretching out on top of me again.

"Have I told you yet today how much I love you?" She whispered, almost purring as she kissed my neck.

"I don't think so." I said, my voice husky.

"Mmm, I'll have to remedy that then, won't I?" She was definitely purring and it was making me crazy.

"As you wish."

She told me, all right. I had no doubts, but she proved it to me again beyond any shadow that night.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_It's dark where you are. It's been dark for days. You don't know how many, you lost track a long time ago. But this is just one of the prices you pay when you don't cooperate: sensory deprivation._

_The only sense that's really left to you is touch. You can feel the floor beneath you, the walls around you. The food they give you is tasteless and without discernible smell. The slot they push the food through is so well-made and well-oiled, even you can't hear it when it opens You did manage to figure out that this room can't be any bigger than 6 feet square and now it's getting smaller. At least, you think it's getting smaller. You know what they're trying to do; they're trying to break you. They're waiting for you to start screaming and begging to be let out, but you won't give them the satisfaction, you just won't. But it's getting harder to believe that._

_They know how sensitive your senses are and they've taken every precaution to deny them to you. Part of you want to pound your fists against the door and beg them to let you out, but the largest part of you is praying they'll fuck up and open the door. You still have your claws, you pop them out from time to time to make sure you can still feel. But right now you'd rather feel someone's lifeblood running down your hands as you gut them._

_A while later, an hour, a day, a year, you don't know, but you finally hear the sound of the locks being opened and the sound is deafening. The door swings open and the dim light that spills in from the hallway is blinding. A figure stands at the door and the different scents coming off of it are overwhelming. You curl in upon yourself in an attempt to block the sensory information out._

_"Wolverine, how many times do we have to do this?" He whispers and his voice assaults your ears._

_"How long until you let me go?" You growl back, your voice rusty from disuse._

_The man chuckles and you remember his name: Stryker. "You know that isn't how this works. You belong to us now. Accept it." He motions and two more figures enter and grab your arms, hauling you to your feet. "Now that you've learned a little more of your place, I have something I'd like to show you."_

_The soldiers drag you out of the room and down the hallway. The pools of light from the fixtures above continue to sting your eyes, but they're getting better. The worst part for you is the smell. The myriad scents that assault you threaten to bring you to your knees, even the ones that aren't so bad. The soldiers are rough with you, kicking your legs and landing punches to your kidneys as they take you to wherever it is you're going. Finally, they open a door and lead you into a lab like nothing you've seen before._

_As your eyes adjust to the too-bright lights, you see a figure is strapped to a table. You separate the scents in the room and you realize that's Hellcat they have there. She's hooked up to so many wires you can barely see an inch of her flesh. As you watch, an attendant casually presses a button on a console and she writhes in agony as electricity is shot through every nerve in her body. Less than a second later, it stops and she gives off the barest whimper. The attendant makes a note on a clipboard and repeats the process._

_A growl starts low in your chest, building in volume until it comes out as a howl of rage. You shake off the soldier on your left and punch the one on your right. He goes down hard and doesn't get back up. You pop your claws out and lunge towards Stryker, but a sharp pain in your neck distracts you. You reach up and remove the dart just as your fingers go numb and your legs collapse beneath you. You fall to your side, your claws sliding away, unused._

_"Wolverine, my boy, you can't hurt me. I just wanted you to see what's in store for you now. We will break you. We've broken others just like you. Don't fight it, you'll never win." He gestures to someone and again you are lifted off the floor. They put you on a table next to Hellcat and you look over at her. She turns her head to you and looks at you with eyes that are so full of pain it breaks your heart. You feel a needle slide into your vein and a moment later, everything goes black._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Now is the part where you click the button where it says "submit review". Flames will be met with marshmallows and hot dogs on long sticks, so don't waste your time. Good reviews will be met with a minimum of ten minutes of happy dancing.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Logan doesn't belong to me, which is a source of great frustration let me tell you...none of the other X-Men are mine either...Fox and Marvel own all of them...I'm just borrowing them for my own twisted pleasure...:) Angela, Buzz and a handful of other characters DO belong to me and they tend to get irate if other people touch them...so hands off...you don't want to piss Angela off...really...:)

**AN:** I'm going to let you all in on a little secret...:) The reason the sequel here was posted so fast is because it's **technically **done...however, just like with "Torn Asunder", I'm re-reading the whole thing and rewriting some of it as I go...so you still have to wait for the updates just like everyone else...:) So thanks for your patience and understanding...:)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 2.

(Logan)

Morning came way too soon as far as I was concerned. The incessant beeping of the alarm was stabbing through my skull and I had to grit my teeth to resist the temptation to pop my claws and finish the damn thing off once and for all. I settled for the snooze alarm and rolled back over, sliding my arm around the woman beside me. She snuggled back into me, her hand sliding into mine. I wanted to go back to sleep, but I was enjoying the feeling of her in my arms, so warm, so beautiful and all mine. That thought still took me by surprise at times like this. I'd spent so much time alone that I still wasn't used to having anyone around to share things with. Yet here was this amazing woman who could have had any man just by looking at him and she gave her heart to me. It took my breath away to think about how lucky I was and I could only hope to be worthy of the treasure she'd entrusted to me.

The clock started in again with it's annoying screech and I groaned. Angela stirred at the sound. "Lover, if you don't turn that damn thing off, I'm going to kill it." She mumbled sleepily. I chuckled and hit the snooze again. "Mmm, that's better." She said, turning over and snuggling into my chest. My arms went around her instinctively, wanting to protect her even though she really didn't need it.

"We can't stay in bed all day, darlin'." I said. She answered me with a groan. "C'mon. We have a class in less than an hour."

"But I'm so comfy." She complained.

"So am I, but one of us has to be the responsible one and it looks like it's me today."

"Oh gods, we're doomed."

I growled with feigned menace and flipped her onto her back. I lowered my head and kissed her, which was a big mistake. She responded, wrapping her arms and legs around me and pulling me close. I growled again, no menace this time, but I managed to get myself under control and pulled away. "Don't start that now, we don't have time."

She pouted at me and it was unbearably cute. "You're no fun."

"Yes I am. But I promise to make it up to you later."

"You better." She replied, still pouting. I got up and made my way to the bathroom. I don't normally shower before teaching the defense classes, since I just end up all sweaty anyway. But unless I wanted a bunch of fourteen year olds taking the obvious cheap shot, I had to douse myself in some cold water first. By the time I was done, she was up and dressed in her normal black cargo pants and a tank top, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was gorgeous.

"I swear darlin', you could make a potato sack look good." I observed as I pulled on my own clothing.

"You, my dear, have a biased opinion." She replied, pulling on a pair of boots.

I snorted. "Not even close. Half the older kids are half in love with you, you know."

"Sucks to be them."

I shook my head and we headed to the kitchen to grab a quick bite before going to the Danger Room. We had our twelve to fourteen year olds this morning and they tended to be almost unnaturally hyper. I suspected they'd been getting into the coffee before our class and I vowed to get even with Chuck for ever scheduling us to teach a class this early. It was unholy.

We got on the elevator while still munching on our snacks, which was a bacon sandwich for me, but Angela was eating a bagel with cream cheese and jam, a combination that she insists tastes good but just looks nasty to me. Which is saying something, considering some of the places I've eaten in the past. The elevator door opened and we entered the polished steel corridor of the lower level. We made a quick stop into the security room to check the nightly logs, but there was nothing of interest. As we left, we ran into Buzz.

"Hey guys. 'Sup?" He greeted.

"Nada." Angela replied, licking jam off her fingers as she finished her bagel. "Got a class in a few minutes."

"Gotcha. Have any free time later?"

"Couple hours this afternoon, why?"

"I programmed a new scenario last night, wanted to test it out."

"Cool. We'll be there."

He walked off and we went down the Danger Room. For all his brilliance, Buzz was a man of few words. If he couldn't convey what he wanted in a few sentences, he figured it wasn't worth saying. I liked him, he reminded me of me.

We got to the Danger Room and stepped back as the doors opened. The kids were already bouncing off the walls and the din they were creating sounded more like forty kids than the fourteen we actually had. I gritted my teeth in annoyance. "All right!" I yelled. "You have so much energy to burn, I want ten laps right now. Go!"

They didn't need to be told twice, even though they groaned. I knew they hated the laps, but it was part of their training and conditioning. Besides, I had to teach them at the time of day I would have much preferred to be doing my own morning run with Angela, so it was fitting as far as I was concerned. We watched as the kids circled the room, noting who was giving their all and who was hanging back. The stragglers would be the first ones up, a fact that should have been obvious to them by now, but there's always one or two in every class who feel like they can slack off and get away with doing less. I'm pretty sure they still had trouble believing that everything they did in here might save their lives someday. It was my job to make sure they left this school with that disbelief thoroughly eradicated.

Once the laps were finished and they caught their breath, Angela ran them through a tai chi kata before pairing them off to review what they'd learned in their last class. The stragglers were paired with the ones who'd been at the top of the class since the beginning, a little extra reinforcement that slacking wasn't tolerated in this classroom. When we were satisfied that they remembered the last lesson, we called up our slackers to begin the lesson for the day.

One of our slackers was Julian Keller, who was a very powerful telekinetic. Unlike Jean, he didn't have any telepathy, but he could generate an impressive force barrier and even fly to some extent. He'd also had some previous martial arts training and I'm pretty sure that was part of the problem. Every kid with year of karate from the local YMCA that came in here usually thought they knew enough to get by and he was no exception. Angela planned to squash that notion in the only way she knew how, kicking his ass.

The lesson for the day was improvisation. They'd all learned enough to get by pretty good, but they were falling into patterns of "punch here, block there" and they needed to be able to mix it up a bit. Angela squared off with him and told him to attack. He hesitated for a bare second, which was all she needed for an opening. She lunged forward and threw a rapid series of punches and kicks, forcing him into a pure defense mode. I knew she was attacking at way under full strength, but it probably didn't look like it to the kids and definitely not to Julian. I, on the other hand, could see dozens of openings she was giving him, but he failed to see them. She finally landed him flat on his back with a beautiful sweep to his legs and pounced on him, her knee in his chest and her hand at his throat.

"Julian, you're dead. Why?" She asked, her expression calm.

"You told me to attack but then you attacked me before…"

"NO!" She cut him off forcefully. "You're dead because you hesitated. Why did you do that?"

"Well, I was deciding what to do…"

"WRONG AGAIN!" She pushed herself to a standing position and gave him a hand up. "If I was a real enemy, you wouldn't have time to 'decide what to do'. You just have to do it. You've been in this class for how many weeks now? Attacking your enemy should be second nature by now."

"But Miss Rex…"

"I don't want excuses, I want results." She squared off with him again. "Now, attack me."

To his credit, he did. We didn't wear padding in these classes, since we'll heal from just about anything. The kids wore some protective gear, just enough that we wouldn't hurt them, but not so much that they lost mobility. He came at her with a well-placed series of punches, but she blocked every one. He stepped back a bit, circling her in a half-crouch before going back in with more punches and some kicks. He landed nothing. His frustration grew and his attacks were getting messier until she took advantage of a wildly thrown roundhouse kick and threw him on his back again. She was again on his chest, hand at his throat.

"You're dead again. Why?"

"You know, this isn't fair. You're a trained assassin! How can I beat that? I'm just a kid."

She stood up and helped him up again. "You can, believe me. But your problem is that you're not improvising. You're throwing every punch, every kick, in the order we've taught them to you. You're being lazy and I won't have it anymore. Five laps, right now. GO!"

He sighed, but took off at a jog. She shook her head and turned back to the class, calling up our other "problem child". Josh Foley had come to us through the underground and with one of the most useful powers we'd come across. His ability was manipulating biological material to heal himself, but unlike my healing factor, he could also heal others. The staff had speculated that he could probably also use it to hurt people, but none of us were willing to explore that possibility just yet. We also didn't know what the upper limit was to his power, if he could reattach limbs or anything like that, but at least the infirmary wasn't flooded with all the cuts and scrapes the kids seemed to collect on a daily basis. They just went to him.

Josh's problem stemmed from a desire to not hurt people. As a healer, it made perfect sense. As a mutant who might come across someone who wanted to hurt him, it was suicidal. I'd heard him grumbling about not wanting to be an X-Man anyway, so why did he need to learn all this fighting, but nothing Angela or I could say to him made him understand. He reluctantly stood up and squared off with her and she immediately attacked.

He didn't do too badly at defending himself, but he also never tried to hit her, not once. As with Julian, she eventually had him flat on his back. "Josh, what have we told you?" She asked him, scowling.

"I know, Miss Rex! But I don't see why I'll need all this! I want to help people!" He complained as she stood and helped him up.

"And that's an admirable thing. But you're here to learn how to protect yourself and others. Wouldn't it be better to keep people from getting hurt in the first place, rather than patching them up after they've been shot or stabbed? Or worse?"

"Well, yeah. But I just don't like it!"

"No one's saying you have to enjoy beating people up. It's what we call a necessary evil. You do it when there's no other choice, because the person in front of you won't hesitate to do the same to you. Five laps, now."

He hung his head and went off to join Julian. We paired off the rest of the kids and watched as they sparred, giving suggestions to those who tended to fall back into patterns and complimenting the ones who improvised with no problems. Half an hour later, we had them go through their cool down routine and sent them on their way.

When the last one had left, Angela slid down the wall and sat with her head on her knees. I joined her. "Tough class." She said, not looking up.

"Ah, they'll get it sooner or later darlin'." I replied. "They have good teachers."

"Yeah, I suppose." She took her hair out of the ponytail and shook it. It had grown out some and it reached just past her shoulders. She'd also colored it back to her natural chocolate brown and she sported bright pink streaks in it (this week, at least). "I keep thinking about what Julian said. They are just kids, Logan. Maybe we're being too hard on them."

"No such thing. With the way the anti-mutant groups are stirrin' shit up out there, we can't be too hard on them."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She ran her fingers through her hair and stood up. "I'm for a shower. And I believe this qualifies as 'later', lover." She winked seductively and started to slink towards the door.

She didn't have to ask me twice.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The rest of the day went relatively smooth, with only one mishap during a training session with the Beta team. It was nothing major, really. Bobby had just iced a patch of "ground" and Jubilee slipped on it, twisting her ankle pretty hard. We sent her to the infirmary, but she'd probably just go find Josh eventually to fix it up for her. We almost didn't need Dr. Endicott to come out anymore.

Darlene Endicott was an old friend of Chuck's from college. She wasn't a mutant, but she was fierce in her belief that when the Constitution was written, they meant it when they said "All men are created equal". She was very outspoken when it came to mutant rights and could debate anyone under the table. I liked her. I was on my way to see her, answering a note I found taped to the bedroom door when Angela and I finished with our shower.

"Now, stay off that ankle for at least a week, you hear me?" She was saying to Jubilee when I walked in. "And don't go to Josh! You might find yourself in a place where he isn't and then where will you be?"

"Yes, Doctor." Jubilee replied, though I doubted she'd listen. "Can I go now?"

"Yes, and use the crutches!" I moved aside to let her pass and the doctor smiled when she saw me. "Logan! I might have some good news for you."

"Does it have anythin' to do with you shovin' things up my nose again? Cuz that wasn't good in my book." I replied.

She chuckled. "Well, unfortunately yes, it does." I scowled at her. "I have a colleague who's a neurosurgeon. He's working in Africa right now, but he'll be back in about a month and wants to look at you."

"Why do I get the feelin' that he's gonna do more than shove somethin' up my nose?"

"He's done some work with cranial implants to help blindness, Tourette's and other neurological disorders. He wants to have a look and see if he can remove your implant without doing too much damage."

"I already told you, doc. I can heal anythin'. I've been shot in the head and I'm still here."

"I understand that. But as a doctor, it goes against my nature to just yank that thing out and let your nature fix it over time. If I can make it cleaner, then that's what I'll do."

"Fine, doc. I've waited this long, what's another month?"

"Hey, just be glad it isn't a digestive implant. We'd have to go in through your rectum." She deadpanned.

"You wouldn't." I said evenly.

She smirked and I knew she was joking. I still scowled at her as I left the infirmary, though I could hear her laughing at her own joke when I was halfway down the hall. Women.

I had just boarded the elevator when I heard Chuck's voice in my head. 'Logan, can you and Angela please come to my office?'

'Sure Chuck. Be right there.' There went my plans to go have a smoke. I turned towards his office instead of the patio when the elevator reached the ground floor. I didn't get a chance to knock when his voice called out in greeting. I pushed the door open and entered.

Angela was already there, wearing a variation of her earlier outfit, this time green pants and a white tank. She was still gorgeous. I sat next to her on the sofa. "Whattaya need, Chuck?" I asked.

"I've been tracking a mutant through Quebec for the past week. I want you and Angela to try and find him."

"Why us?" Angela asked. "We have classes to teach, training for both X teams and gods only know what else."

"I understand you don't want to shirk your responsibilities, but Piotr can take over the defense classes for the older children and Bobby has offered to teach the younger ones. As for why I want to send you two." He took a deep breath and steepled his hands in front of him. "The mutant seems to be heading straight here."

"Is he from the underground?" I asked, confused.

"I don't believe so. By backtracking his most likely starting point, it seems to be very close to the base you were taken to a few weeks ago."

"You think he's an escapee." I stated.

"I'm not clear on that part. Angela did a fairly good job of eliminating those who were in charge there. However, we cannot be certain that this mutant wasn't sent to track you down. There is something else as well."

"And what might that be?"

"From what I've been able to see, he seems to be another feral mutant, like yourselves. I see no alternative but send the two of you to intercept him. If he's not a threat, I know you'll bring him back here as quickly as possible. If he does pose a threat…" He trailed off, but we knew where he was going with that.

"Then you know that we're probably the only ones who can handle it." Angela finished. She looked at me and I knew what she was thinking. Stryker must have had more like us. The real question now was, how many more? She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "All right, we'll go. When do you want us to leave?"

"First thing in the morning. And I think it would be best if you didn't go by jet. I'll arrange a suitable vehicle and supplies for you. Much of the area he's confined himself to is remote at best, so you'll probably have to rough it. He's been avoiding more populated areas on purpose."

"Joy, just what I always wanted. Camping in the cold." Angela grumbled.

"Hey, Quebec isn't all arctic, you know." I countered. "Some of it's like it is around here."

"Yeah, but do you think we'll be lucky enough to find him where it's not already winter? It's almost October, you know."

"Not that close, darlin'. You've gotten soft, livin' in the city all this time." I teased. "I seem to remember a mission we did in Romania, about a month before we escaped. It was a lot colder there if I recall."

She shivered. "Don't remind me." She stood up and I followed suit. "Well Professor, looks like we have some packing to do. We'll be ready in the morning."

"Thank you both. Try to bring him back, please. I don't want either one of you getting hurt."

We both snorted at that and left the office. We walked down the hallway a bit before she turned to me. "Logan, you're thinking this mutant…he's like us, isn't he? One of Stryker's 'pets'?" I clenched my jaw and nodded. She sighed. "I don't fucking believe this. He's dead, you left him there at Alkali Lake to die. Why is he still haunting us?"

"I don't know, darlin'. I wish I did, but I don't." I turned and made my way through the lounge to the patio, Angela right behind me. I took out a cigar and lit it, taking a couple long puffs before sitting down on a bench. "I swore, a long time ago, I was gonna find every one of the bastards that did this to me…to us." I said, looking over the grounds. "I thought that when Stryker died, that would be the end it. Cut off the head and the snake dies, you know?"

"Yeah, I do." She replied, lighting a cigarette. "But this isn't a snake, is it? It's a hydra. Cut off a head and before you can get to the rest, it grows back." She sighed and took a drag off her smoke. "How deep do you think it goes, really?"

"I don't know, but I have a bad feelin' that it's worse than we ever thought." I flicked the ash from my cigar and watched it blow away in the breeze. "I'm afraid it might go all the way to the top."

"And that's a place even we don't dare to go."

"Yeah." We sat there for a long time, not looking at each other, not speaking. What could we say? That the leaders of our countries had known what was going on the whole time and turned a blind eye? Or worse, that those people had always operated so far under the radar that no one with the power stop them had known there was something to stop? Either way, I knew neither one of us would rest well that night.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN Part 2:** I wanted to take the opportunity to thank reeltreble1031, MissLoverGirl and Dee (MidLifeCrisis) for being the first to review...I'd also like to send a thank you and a hug to Turiel Tincdaniel for her pseudo-review and for being the best beta reader EVER...as always, thanks to DBK(tm) for his continuing support, which really translates to being a loveable pain in the ass, but also for being my resident X-Expert and helping me with keeping things at least close to how they should be...lastly, I want to thank the readers for giving my stories a chance...now for the roughly 90 percentof you who didn't review after reading, remember this...it only takes a few seconds to click the "submit review" button and type something, ANYTHING, to let me know what you think...:)

**So, review already! Remember, good reviews get at least 10 minutes of happy dancing...flames will be met with bad campfire songs and lame ghost stories...:)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Logan doesn't belong to me, which makes me very sad. He (along with the rest of the X-Men) belongs to Fox and Marvel. Angela, Buzz and some other people you'll be meeting soon DO belong to me and they get upset if other people play with them...so leave them alone!

**Note:** For all my American readers, happy 4th of July! Call this an Independence Day gift...:)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Interlude: Dreaming

(Angela)

_The light glints off the razor-sharp edge of the scalpel as a gloved hand lowers it slowly to your flesh. A wire-thin probe at the base of your skull keeps you from moving, but not from feeling the pain as it parts the flesh along your arms. A new pain flares up as the scalpel cuts through muscle, all the way to the bone. Your eyes widen in horror as you see your radius and ulna reflected in the facemask of your torturer. Clamps are attached to the edges of your flesh, keeping it from slowly drawing closed before they can finish their work. But this pain isn't anything you can't handle. They've cut you open before, when they were testing you upon your arrival to see if you were a good candidate for the program. They'd all but vivisected you then, opening you up from neck to navel, just to see what would happen. The shock had overloaded your system and you'd gone into cardiac arrest. Before they could do anything, you died._

_The next day, just before you were to be taken to the crematorium on the other side of the lake, you came back. It was wholly unexpected; they hadn't known something like this was possible. But you'd sat straight up on the gurney with a gasp, looking around with wild eyes for something, anything to lash out at. The private that had been assigned to transport duties was the only person present and what was left of him wasn't worth talking about. Your status was changed from "deceased" to "operative" at that moment._

_And now they were beginning the process of augmenting you. The head of the Weapon X project, William Stryker, had discovered a way to manipulate adamantium and had dubbed you "Hellcat". You were to be the one of the first of what he hoped would be many more like you. Naturally, they had to experiment with the best way to apply the adamantium to your skeleton. Would grafting it to the outside be enough? Or should it be injected into the bone marrow? They were reluctant to try the latter, not knowing if you would be able to live very long if you lost the ability to create new red blood cells. So, external grafting it was._

_A high-pitched whine fills the room as a bone saw is turned on. They were scoring your bones before applying the metal, grinding them down and leaving only the tiniest bit of bone uncovered. In fact, just enough that the marrow would still be able to perform its main function. Once finished with that, they bring the gun-like injector up and slowly, carefully, apply metal that was roughly the same temperature as the earth's core to the exposed bones._

_Bloodcurdling screams erupt from your throat, tearing the walls of your windpipe with their strength. The torturer never hesitates, simply continues with his work until the bones are covered in the marked areas. Without bothering to attempt to cool it, your muscles and skin are carefully put back in place and the torturer goes to the other side of the table to do the other arm. He continues this grim work until you finally expire with a gasp and a sigh of relief. Knowing full well you'll recover by the next day, he moves to continue on the delicate bones in your hands, but a gesture from someone across the room stays his hand._

_"Stop for now. We'll continue when she comes back." Stryker said._

_"Sir, wouldn't it be easier to do it now, when there's less chance she'll resist?" The torturer replied._

_"Maybe. But we have her brat. By the looks of it, she'll become an active mutant within the year. As long as she's alive, Hellcat here will do anything we tell her to do. Besides, it'll be a good lesson for her. She'll know that we are capable of inflicting far more damage to her than she could ever do to us." He motions to a soldier who wheels the table to the side of the lab. "Of course, there has to be a way we can do more than a couple bones at a time. We'll give her a few days to recover from this while I figure something out."_

_Neither Stryker nor the torturer ever knew that, although you were dying, you hadn't died before hearing that exchange. Your dying thought is that someday, you will find a way to get revenge on them. No matter the cost._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 3.

(Angela)

I sat straight up in the bed, screaming. I had a vague sense of Logan springing out of bed, probably preparing to defend me from whatever demon it was that woke me. But it was inner demons that I was fighting, something he couldn't do anything about.

I was in a state halfway between awake and dreaming and I felt like a passenger in my own body. I could hear Logan's voice, but it sounded miles away. "Angela! Wake up, baby, it was a dream!" He said, a note of panic in his voice. "Darlin', please. Come back to me. It's ok, it's over. Whatever it was, it's over." I felt him smoothing the hair away from my forehead, but when he gathered me into his arms, my body reacted before I could pull myself fully awake and I pushed him away. "Angela, please!" He was pleading with me, but my mind was still not my own.

"Get away from me! Just stop it!" I yelled, but my voice sounded foreign to my ears. "I'll gut you, I swear to fucking god!"

He backed away a bit and held his hands up in front of me in a gesture of peace. "Angela, come on. It's over. You're here with me, at the mansion. It's over." He sounded much closer now and my eyes came into clearer focus. I felt his hands cup my face and force me to look into his eyes. "It's me, Logan. You're safe."

Finally, the dream lost its hold on me and was fully awake. "Logan? Oh gods!" I threw myself into his arms and wept uncontrollably. I felt him stroking my back and he whispered softly to me, letting me work it out until I was done. I was still trembling in fear and my heart was pounding in my chest.

It took about an hour, but I finally calmed down enough to talk. He pushed me away from me a little and wiped the tears from my face. "You ok now baby?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Gods, I haven't dreamed about that in almost ten years!"

"The lab?"

"Yeah. The first process, when they did my arms. Before Stryker came up with the tank."

"Before? You mean he put this shit in you out in the open?" I nodded again and he pulled me back to his shoulder. "Jesus darlin', why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I try not to think about it anymore. I can't even describe how it felt; it was beyond pain. They only got to the forearms that first time before I died on them."

"How long after that did he come up with the tank?"

"I don't know, maybe the third or fourth time. They did all my small bones without it."

His arms tightened around me and I could feel him trembling, but in rage instead of fear. "I swear, darlin', if it's the last thing I do, I will find every one of those bastards."

"I know, Logan." I whispered, wrapping my arms around him. "We'll get them, someday. We'll get them." I lifted my face and kissed him softly, pulling him back down to the bed with me. I snuggled up to his side, resting my head on his shoulder and he held me close until I fell asleep again. It's been over fifteen years and still that place hangs over us like some damn ghost. My last thought before I once again sank into dreams was of revenge. I wanted those bastards to pay for what they did to us, inflict pain upon them for the sake of doing it. Then, I would sit back and watch them die. And I would do it all with a song in my heart.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I came awake slowly as the first gray light of dawn came through the windows. The first thing I noticed was that Logan was gone. As sleep lost its hold on me, I heard the shower running and figured he'd awakened early to beat me to the hot water. I rolled over to his side of the bed, breathing in his scent and smiling. I don't have the hypersensitive nose that he has, which is probably a blessing. Still, I knew his scent intimately and it always made me smile. Of course, I couldn't smell him a mile away; I had to be right next to him or near something that was unmistakably his to catch it. But my truly guilty pleasure was rolling to his side of the bed after he'd awakened so I could surround myself with it.

I dozed back off again, but I came awake a bit when I felt Logan stretch himself out next to me on the bed. I rolled over and slid my arm around his chest, snuggling back into the warmth of his body. I felt him kiss the top of my head and he softly stroked my shoulder with his thumb. I knew he was trying to give me a few more minutes of sleep. After all those years running two different bars back in Detroit, it was still difficult for me to accept morning as any time of day before noon.

I heard his breathing begin to slow, the tension to drain from his limbs and I knew he was dozing back off. It would never do for us to be late to leave on our first solo mission for the Professor, so I moved up a little to kiss his cheek. "Morning lover." I said, still sleepy.

"Good mornin'." He replied, giving me a kiss. "Time to get up."

I smiled at him mischievously. "That's my plan." I purred as I slid my hand down his chest.

About an hour later, we both emerged from the shower. He was swearing up and down that I was trying to kill him, even though we both knew there was no way that would happen. Of course, if it did come to pass, at least he'd die with a smile on his face.

We collected our duffle bags and headed to the garage. True to his word, Charles had gotten us a fairly nice Jeep, black with the traditional soft-top and plastic windows. It was loaded with camping gear, most of which we'd done without before, but I was grateful for it anyway. We argued briefly over who got to drive first (he won), then settled into our seats. I checked the glove compartment and found a cell phone, a charger for it and an envelope with Logan's name written on it. I handed it to him and when he opened it, a card fell in his lap. He removed the note that was still inside.

_Logan,_

_Although I am certain you could find a way across the border without using the normal crossing, I felt it would be best if you had some sort of identification just in case. I will try to monitor your progress as much as I am able, but do not hesitate to call if you have need of anything. Good luck and Godspeed._

_Charles_

He handed me the note and picked up the card. Glancing over, I saw that it was a New York driver's license. I don't know how the Professor had managed to get a head shot of Logan, but it was a pretty good picture. I looked at him with a smile, but saw that he had his eyes closed, a frown obscuring his features. My smile died. "Logan, what's wrong? Is everything all right?"

He opened his eyes and looked at me. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said, handing me the license. "Check it out, I have a whole name, a birthday and everythin'."

I looked at it closely, then giggled. "So, you were born May first? Explains quite a few things."

"What do you mean?"

I giggled again. "On the pagan calendar, May first is Beltane. It's…ummm…it's a fertility holiday."

He scowled at me and it just made me giggle more. I really needed about another two hours of sleep, but I figured I could doze in the car. He snatched the license out of my hand and shoved it in his coat pocket, grumbling something about me being a "silly woman", which only made me giggle more. Still scowling, he pulled a cigar out of another pocket and lit it, puffing on it furiously. I shook my head and settled into my seat as he pulled out of the garage. We were on our way.

Most people don't realize how massive New York State really is unless you actually live there. We made pretty good time, avoiding the major roads in favor of less-traveled highways where we could ignore the speed limits with a little more safety. We also didn't make any long stops, pausing only for bathroom breaks and quick meals. It was almost sunset when we finally crossed the border into Canada, with no incident. Logan asked the border guard where we could find good backpacking and camping areas and he was more than happy to give us directions. He thanked him (in French, which he didn't realize until I pointed it out to him later) and we drove off, now in full mission mode.

We decided to spend that first night in a motel, our last opportunity for a real bed for gods only knew how long. It had been a long drive and I was itching for a shower. Much to my dismay, the shower wasn't really big enough for two so Logan let me go first while he checked in with the Professor. I spent a goodly amount of time in there, knowing this would be my last good shower for a good long time, so I luxuriated in it. I emerged about half an hour later, wrapped in a towel, to find Logan stretched out on the bed flipping channels.

"So, what'd the Professor have to say?" I asked as I toweled off my hair.

"Our guy is still about seventy miles to the northwest of us." He replied, shutting off the television. "There's some pretty rough terrain up there that he'll probably have to go around. So, we're headin' that way first thing tomorrow."

I sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "Great. I'm guessing by 'first thing' you actually mean 'before the sun comes up', right?" He nodded. "This sucks. Can I turn in my decoder ring?"

"You didn't get a decoder ring."

I smacked him on the shoulder. "You know what I mean."

He chuckled and pulled me down next to him. "Yeah, I know. But I'm sure if you really wanted to, you could."

"No, I don't." I complained. "But I didn't know I was signing up for getting up at inhuman hours every day."

"We used to get up just as early back in the Bad Old Days, remember?"

"And that's part of the reason they're called the Bad Old Days."

He chuckled again and started kissing my neck. I let my head roll back and closed my eyes, just enjoying the feeling of his lips upon my skin. He reached up and slid the towel from my body, kissing down my shoulder, but I opened my eyes and scooted away. His head snapped up, a look of confusion on his face. I just smiled. "Now, that's not fair, Logan. I only had a towel on. You haven't even taken off your boots."

"It's more fun this way." He replied, moving back in to kiss me. He pulled me into his arms and I melted against him, totally unable to resist. He's got that effect on me. He buried a hand in my still damp hair, gently pulling my head back to expose my throat again. I moaned in pleasure as he worked his way down, finally sliding my claws out and very carefully using them to literally tear the shirt off his back. He gasped and sat up, scowling at me. "Hey now! I didn't bring that many shirts with me!"

"Let that be a lesson to you then." I replied, stretching out on the bed. "The jeans are next, unless you'd like to take care of them yourself."

"Evil woman." He said, but complied with my wishes. He finally stood there, gloriously naked and my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. I don't care if I live five hundred years, I will never get tired of seeing him that way. I held my arms open and he slid into them, pulling me close and kissing me. We definitely made the most of the last real bed we would be seeing for a while.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** I'm really tired today, so i'm going give a blanket Super Excellent Swanky thank you to beta readers, regular readers, DBK, my fiance and everyone who's reviewed...now, i wanted to let you all know that i'll be going on vacation from August 7th til the 21st...by my calculations (at my current update rate), i'll be almost but not quite done posting this story before i leave...now, if you'd like me to finish before i leave, please leave a review and let me know if you'd rather see 2 chapters in each update from now on...:) Go on, you know you want to!


	4. Interlude and Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Logan's not mine, which is a source of great sorrow to me...Marvel and Fox own him along with all the other X-Men and their stuff...Angela IS mine, along with Buzz and some other characters that pop up in this story...they're all very territorial and don't like it when other people try to play with them...so hands off!

**Author's Note, Part 1:** Due to popular demand (and my upcoming vacation in exactly one month), I will be updating with 2 chapters at a time from now until this story is done...after that, you'll probably have to wait til I get home for the next story, already in progress...:)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Interlude: Dreaming

(Logan)

_He senses her before he sees her. He's never seen her around here before, but that's no surprise. He's allowed to go into the officer's club if he wants to, but he prefers the bar in town. It's smaller and it's not packed with a bunch of career military men trying to one-up each other with war stories or tales of female conquest. Give him the civilians any day; at least they're honest._

_She slinks to a table near the back, her movements so graceful that even the simple process of walking takes on elements of a dance. She's tiny, almost delicate, but he also suspects that the delicacy is carefully cultivated, a charade she uses to her advantage. A few moments later, a man that he has also never seen before joins her. He swallows a surge of disappointment as he finishes the last dregs of his beer. He signals the bartender for another one, lighting a cigar as he tosses a bill on the counter. He hears the musical sound of her laughter over the din in the bar and again curses his hesitation. A day late and a dollar short, it's the story of his life._

_A few moments later, the tiny woman leaves with her companion. He watches as they leave, wondering if she'll ever come in here again. He shakes his head, knowing that luck of that nature would never come to him. Women he could have in plenty, with a mere crook of his little finger. But THAT woman, she's something different. Something…special. He shakes his head again, wondering where that thought came from. He tosses back the last of his beer, grinds out the stub of his cigar and leaves the bar._

_The base is only a mile and a half away, but he catches a scent on the wind less than halfway there. Following his nose down an alley, he parses out the different scents it contains. There's the expected smell of refuse and urine, along with the scent of a stray dog nosing through a pile of trash. He also catches the scent of blood. Clenching his hands at his sides, he makes his way further down the alley to the scene of a bloodbath._

_The woman's companion is lying slumped to one side facing the wall. A pool of blood is forming beneath the body, the walls liberally splashed in red. He reaches out and turns the corpse over, eyes widening at the carnage that used to be this man's throat. He straightens quickly, scanning the alley for the woman but she's nowhere to be found. Whoever or whatever attacked this man had obviously taken her. He searches the corpse's pockets for identification, but finds nothing. Whoever this poor bastard was, he'll probably wind up buried in Potter's Field, forgotten._

_Wiping his hands absently on his pants, he backs away from the body, not wanting to be found near it. He'll call this in to the local authorities when he gets back to base. In the meantime, he hopes the woman fares better than her companion did. He didn't give her very good odds._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 4.

(Logan)

I woke up a few minutes before the alarm, confused by the dream I'd just had. I tried to follow the thread of it, but it was fading fast. For some reason, it left me with the strangest feeling that I had seen Angela before being captured by Stryker. On the other hand, if that was true, why hadn't this one come back when all my other memories of her came back all those months ago? I shook my head, trying to clear it and hold on to the images of the dream, but they faded away too quickly. Oh well, I'd ask her about when we were back on the road.

I reached over and turned the alarm off. No sense in letting it go off when I could give Angela a little more sleep while I took a shower. I got up as gently as I could, not wanting to disturb her. She moaned a little in her sleep, then rolled over to my side of the bed. I smiled at that, she did that whenever I got up before she did. I kissed her on the forehead and went to the bathroom.

She was still sleeping when I was done, curled up around my pillow. I cursed myself for not having a camera to capture the moment. Still, we had to leave in a little while, so I pulled on my jeans and a shirt before curling up behind her. I kissed her just below her ear and she moaned sleepily. "Angela. Darlin', it's time to wake up." She frowned in her sleep, which made me smile again. "C'mon baby, we gotta get goin'."

"Mmm, I don't wanna." She complained.

"I know. But we have work to do, remember?"

She rolled over and wrapped herself around me, then her frown deepened. She opened an eye and looked me over, her frown turning into a scowl. "You have clothes on. This is never good."

"It is if you don't wanna get arrested for indecent exposure."

"There's nothing indecent about you being naked. You should be naked all the time." She opened her eyes, yawned and sat up. "I suppose this means I have to get up now."

"Yeah, you do. Sorry darlin', but we do have places to be."

"Fucking hell." She ran her fingers through her hair and yawned again. "It's not even light out yet. You're evil."

"No, I'm just drawn that way. Now get up, we gotta go."

She grumbled the whole time, but eventually she had her things packed and we left the motel. She let me drive without complaining, which was a first. We found a cozy little diner to have breakfast in, taking advantage of all the modern conveniences while we could. She finally started perking up after her fourth cup of coffee. "So, where are we headed?" She asked.

"I figure we'll head in the general direction of the base." I replied. "There's several provincial parks up in that direction, but eventually we'll get into mountains and unprotected land. There's a lot of empty out there. Findin' one guy in all of it ain't gonna be easy."

She nodded. "I kinda figured. We'll just have to keep in contact with Charles until we lose the signal." She called the waitress over for another refill on her coffee, then continued once she left. "I suppose we'll have to leave the Jeep at some point."

"Yeah. I have a feelin' that there won't be many roads where we're headed."

"Shit. I am so not used to this! I'm spoiled by city life."

"That you are. Now finish up, we gotta go."

She tossed back the last of her coffee as I went to pay the bill. She went back to the ladies room while I went back to the Jeep and waited. She emerged a few minutes later and scowled at me. "Logan, you already had a shift. It's my turn to drive."

"C'mon, just get in. We don't have time to waste fightin' over it."

"So don't fight. Let me drive."

"I'll let you drive all the way home, ok? Just get in."

She glared at me again, but finally climbed in the passenger side. It's not that she's a bad driver, but I prefer to be in control in a vehicle. It's nothing I can explain, but I just feel better if I'm driving. Of course, she felt the same way, which explains why we always fought over the keys. If that's the worst thing we'll ever fight about, I'll take it.

We traveled for a couple hours before I asked her about the dream I'd had. Her eyes widened as I described what I could remember. "Damn, Logan! I didn't even know you were there! That was like six months before Stryker brought you back to the base."

"You're kiddin', right?" She shook her head and I cursed under my breath. "So you didn't see me at all that night?"

"No. I was sent to intercept that guy, he had some files on disk that he'd stolen from Canadian Intelligence. At least, that's the story they gave me. He was supposed to pass them off to some other woman, but I killed her and took her place. He didn't want to make the drop in the bar, so that's why we left. Once I had what I needed, I took him out. Gods, I'm so stupid!"

"Why you say that?"

"You don't understand, Logan. I'm the best at what I do, the very best. Until just now, I thought I'd never been seen. I never left witnesses. You must have gotten to that alley less than three minutes after I left it. Had you known it was me who did it…" She trailed off and looked away.

I swallowed hard. "Had I known it was you who killed that guy, I'd have come after you."

"And we wouldn't be here now. My cover would have been blown and they'd have killed me. Permanently."

I shivered with a sudden chill that had nothing to do with the weather. From what I remembered of the dream, memory, whatever, was that I assumed the man had been killed and she'd been taken somewhere. It had never occurred to me that she'd been the killer. But I also hadn't known anything about her at the time, that she'd been altered, trained and set loose to kill.

Everything happens for a reason. Angela had told me that at some point, I don't remember exactly when. But even if we don't see the reason right away, it will eventually make sense. I had seen her months before we were thrown together into our own personal hell, but she'd never known it and I hadn't recognized her for what she was. If I'd followed right after her, everything would be far different now. I shuddered to think how much different.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was late afternoon when Angela checked in with Chuck again. He told her that we were still heading in the right direction and gave us the coordinates of the mutant's current position. We'd already left most of the protected land behind, coming up on the mountains and other unprotected areas that only the most hardcore adventurers go into. About an hour later, I found a good place to stash the Jeep and we started out on foot into the wilderness.

I'm not as familiar with Quebec as I am with the more western parts of Canada. Which makes sense, since I spent so much of the past fifteen years out there. But wilderness is wilderness and I love it all the same. I loved my new home at the mansion, don't get me wrong, but being behind walls all the time makes me feel almost claustrophobic. I much prefer being under the open sky, surrounded by trees and clean air. I checked our heading with my internal compass and we started the hard part of our journey.

Naturally, Angela had me carrying all the really heavy stuff, like the tent and bedrolls, while she carried what provisions we had and the water. Out here, we could easily live off the land and would do so as often as possible. We'd just have to be careful when hunting to make sure we didn't kill more than we could eat and to dispose of the remains carefully. No sense in being thought of as poachers or something. It was colder here than back in Westchester, the bite of winter already obvious in the air and it would only get worse as we went higher. Angela was already grumbling about having to wear shoes and I really didn't blame her. She's better off barefoot, since her claws give her better traction on the ground, but I also didn't want to chance her getting a case of frostbite that her healing factor couldn't take care of. It was no big deal for me, but hers was so much slower that stuff like that was always a concern.

We hiked until full dark, setting up camp and starting a small fire for warmth. I set up the tent while she prepared some of our provisions over the fire. As I walked back to the fire, I was awash in memory as I realized this was exactly the way we'd done things in the Bad Old Days. Not out of any sexist notions, but because she was better at the cooking than I was. In fact, I recalled a time when she threatened me with a slow, painful death if I tried to cook again because the results were always so chancy. But it also bothered me a little, that no matter how far away from that we'd managed to get, things still hadn't changed as much as I wished they had. We'd fallen into familiar patterns far too easily and it was uncomfortable to say the least. We weren't even talking, which was unusual for us now, but had been the norm back then.

I looked across the fire and found Angela staring at me. It was uncanny because she'd done the same thing way back when but I really didn't like it now. We sat there like that for a long time, like two predators feeling each other out. I finally got fed up with the whole thing. "Why are you staring at me?" I asked, scowling.

"I don't like this." She stated simply. "I don't like anything about it. Let's go back."

"Angela, we can't."

"Yes, we can. We should. I don't…this feels to much like…back then."

I shivered. "Yeah. I was just thinkin' the same thing." I got up and crossed over to her. I knelt down and took her hands in mine. "But we told Chuck…"

"I don't fucking care!" She said and I could hear the worry in her voice. "I just…I can't explain it, Logan. Something about this is very seriously not right. I can feel it in my bones."

"Darlin', listen to me." I said, gripping her hands tighter. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

She smiled weakly and squeezed my hands back. "I know, lover, believe me I do. But there are some things that are just meant to happen." She leaned over and kissed me before I could ask her about her cryptic remark. By the time we fell asleep a few hours later, I'd forgotten all about it. Looking back, I wish I hadn't.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Author's Note, Part 2:** I have many people to thank, starting with Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, my ever vigilant beta readers...also, huge thanks to DBK(tm) for being the most lovable pain in the ass i've ever known...love you! Next, i'd like to thank Dee (MidLifeCrisis) for her helpful suggestions when i get really stuck...we really need to collaborate someday girl! Also, i'd like to thank my readers...without you, i have no reason to do this...finally, i'd like to thank the 10 percent of my readers who have also reviewed...the reviews are the only way i know if this story is good, bad or otherwise...love it or hate it, i want to know...:)

**So click the little button that says "submit review" already! Good reviews get the happy dance...flames will be met with a troupe of drummers and belly dancers...:)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** See previous chapter...nothing has changed...:)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 5.

(Angela)

_It's been nearly a month since you and Wolverine (Logan, his name is Logan) escaped from Stryker's hell. Thanks to Mother Nature, you've been snowed into this cabin that belongs to Paul Jennings all that time, unreachable until the first thaw at least. It's the only reason you're still free and still alive and you thank Her every day for this chance._

_It hasn't been an easy month. Logan is still prone to bouts of suicidal depression, but they're getting shorter and less frequent. You hope that you'll be here long enough for them to disappear completely. There are times when he says that his mutation isn't a gift, but a curse, something that was put on him to punish him for all the terrible things he's done in his life. Unfortunately, he's losing his hold on his past, losing all the places he's been before this and you don't know how to stop it. Your mind dredges up a memory of some kind of cranial implant that suppressed memory that was being developed, but you never found out if they'd completed it. At least he's not forgetting anything that's happened since he came to the base. Not yet, at least. Your heart skips a beat at the thought that he might forget you someday and it surprises you. Sure, you've lusted after him since pretty much day one, but this forced closeness has changed your feelings. Much as you almost hate to admit it, you're falling in love with the guy. Almost, because it also pleases you that you are still capable of loving._

_He's been really quiet these past couple of days, which worries you. Of course, talking about anything except mission parameters, strategy and tactics is pretty foreign for you both. You've shared some personal information here and there, stories about your lives before all of this, but not enough for either one of you to have an intimate perspective on the mind of the other. It's getting easier, but old habits die hard and he'd spent too much time avoiding the attraction you had for one another for it to be entirely comfortable for him._

_You're sprawled in the armchair, reading a Stephen King book you found in the nightstand drawer, munching on a bowl of chips on the floor next to you. Logan is sitting in front of the fire, seemingly hypnotized by the flames. You glance over at him and your chest constricts at the sight of him. He's so incredible, even beautiful. But you sense that he's falling back into a funk, so you carefully mark your page and roll off the chair onto the floor next to him._

_"Hey Logan." You say softly. "Penny for your thoughts."_

_"They ain't worth that much." He replies bitterly._

_"Actually, they're priceless. But all I have is a penny." _

_He pulls his knees up to his chest and rests his forehead on his knees. "I'm a monster." He says._

"_No you're not." You reply, putting your arm around him. "The real monsters are the ones who did this to us."_

"_They made me like them. They stole everythin' that makes me who I am. Or was. Or whatever."_

"_You are not like them. You are a good man."_

"_I'm not a man at all. Not anymore. I'm a thing."_

_You move in front of him and grasp his head in your hands. With a small effort, you force him to look at you. "Listen to me. You are not a thing. Or a monster. You're a man, a good man. Sure, bad things happened to you, to both of us, but that doesn't make us bad people."_

"_How can you say that after the things they made us do for them? They made us killers. They made us want it. They made us LIKE it!" He clenches his fists and you can see the tips of his claws just beneath the skin. "You told me once, a long time ago, how you felt powerful when you were killin' someone. I didn't know what you meant by that for the longest time. But as time went on, I began to understand. I was never afraid of what I am until Stryker brought me here. Now…I can never go back. I'll never be able to sit in a room full of normal people and fool myself into believin' I can pass as one of them."_

"_Logan, don't worry about that right now. As long as we're stuck here, we'll figure something out." You kiss him softly, your heart aching for him. "But you'll always have me, no matter what."_

_He looks at you curiously. "What do you mean?"_

"_I…Logan, I won't leave you as long as you need me." You say, too afraid to tell him you love him. "Don't you think I know how you feel? I can't imagine living among normal people right now. Half the time, I feel like nothing but an animal, totally ruled by my feral instincts to hunt and kill. The other half…I don't know. I don't feel very much at all, except when it comes to you."_

_He looks into your eyes with something like wonder. His hand comes up to cup the side of your face, then he pulls you in and kisses you. Your arms slide around his neck and you mold your body to his. He feathers kisses down your throat and you gasp as he grabs a handful of your hair to pull your head back. His mouth travels back up to yours and you kiss him hard, tasting a bit of blood as you bite down on his lip. He growls and pulls you down to the floor. He pauses for a moment to just look at you._

"_Angela, I…" He begins, but trails off._

"_Shh, you don't have to say anything. Just come here."_

_He lowers himself on top of you and neither of you say anything for a very long time. You lay in front of the fire in a tangle of sweaty limbs, too spent to say anything. You curl up next to him, your head on his shoulder and he wraps his arms around you protectively. Just as you drift off to sleep, you hear him mumble something. You think it was "I love you", but before you can respond you sink into the world of dreams._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I'm not psychic. I don't read minds or feelings and I can't see the future. But I'm sure that everyone has heard the term "women's intuition". Imagine that mixed with a finely tuned animal instinct and a dash of paranoia. It still doesn't make me psychic and I need to make sure that's completely understood.

We hiked for three more days, checking in with the Professor at least once every day to make sure we were going the right way. On the third day, we saw our first signs that we were in the right area. Rather, Logan smelled the first signs that we were in the right are. We'd come across a place where someone had obviously camped the night before and I was poking around for clues when his head snapped up and he started scenting the air.

"Logan, what is it?" I asked, curious.

"I don't know." He replied, his brow furrowed in concentration. "It smells like…us. But not either one of us."

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking around.

"Human, but feral." He replied, walking slowly to the east. "And he's not far away."

He popped his claws and continued his slow progress to the east. Not wanting to be caught short, I quickly unlaced my boots and set them aside. To hell with frostbite, I wanted all my claws ready to go. I came up beside him quietly and he motioned for me to take the high road. I quickly scurried up the nearest tree and followed him from up there. Our route took us up a fairly high hill, although I could argue that it was a mountain, having lived in a very flat place for so long in Michigan. We reached a plateau and Logan motioned for me to stay where I was. I crouched on a branch of a huge spruce about ten feet off the ground and watched as he cautiously inspected the area.

The attack came so quickly I almost fell out of the tree in shock. Logan had just reached the southern edge of the plateau when a blur leaped out of a tree onto his back. Without hesitation, I sprang from my perch and dashed over to join the fight. Logan reached up and grabbed the figure from his back and tossed it over his head with a scream. It twisted in the air and landed in a defensive crouch, a trick I thought was unique to me until that moment. It (no, HE) took a moment to look us both over, his eyes widening when his gaze fell upon me.

"Hellcat?" He said with a vaguely Oriental accent. His shape was a mixture of panther and Oriental, Japanese if I had to guess, yet he also had long claws not unlike my own and a long black tail. In a way, he reminded me of one of the students, Rahne Sinclair, whose mutation was best compared to lycanthropy. She could shift into the form of a wolf, but she also had a half-wolf form. This guy here looked like he was half-panther. I stopped in my tracks when he said my name, dropping into my own crouch.

"Who are you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. Logan moved as though to attack him anew, but I gestured for him to stay where he was.

"I am called Totem." He replied, approaching me cautiously. "I am your mate."

"No, you're not." I said, allowing a touch of anger to color my voice. "That would be Logan."

"Who is Logan?" He asked me, clearly confused. "I see only Wolverine."

A ripple of shock went through me. I had been right, Stryker did have a collection of feral mutants. "Listen to me. You're safe now. Stryker's gone and…"

"HE'S DEAD!" Totem screamed. "My father is dead."

Yet more shock on top of shock. "Your…he was your FATHER?"

"He took me in when my own family cast me out. He was my father in all but name only. He made me what I am today."

"And what might that be, bub?" Logan asked, coming up next to me and falling into his own defensive crouch.

"I am his perfect creation." He looked Logan in the eye, then gave a slight bow at the waist. "I am here to take my mate home."

"That ain't gonna happen. She's not your mate."

"I will have her. Father promised her to me." He smiled, but it was cold. "Nothing will stop me."

"Oh yeah?" Logan said and lunged forward. Totem met him halfway and they clashed in a flurry of claws. Totem was as well trained as we were; in fact, it almost looked like he'd been trained specifically to fight us, especially Logan. However, it didn't matter how skilled he was, there was no way he could take both of us on.

I jumped into the fray, taking a swipe at Totem's face with my claws. He dodged under my arm, but was met by Logan's claws as he came back up. The gleaming blades sliced into his forearm and I thought for sure his arm had been cut off, but they stopped when they hit his bones. Logan stepped back and I saw the glint of metal underneath the wound. Shit, he had an adamantium skeleton, too. I circled around behind him as Logan came in for another attack. As Totem concentrated on blocking him, I moved in and jumped on his back, raking him with all four sets of claws before leaping over his head and coming down next to Logan.

What I didn't realize during the fight was that Totem had maneuvered us so we were right at the edge of the plateau. It's no surprise, really, that I didn't notice. My feral side was in control and my mind and body were focused on the enemy before me, not the two hundred-foot drop behind me. However, I was about to become intimately acquainted with it. Logan and I had just moved in for a dual attack, him going in high with me going low. Totem was in full feral mode as much as Logan and I, so I don't think he realized what he did when he lashed out with his foot and sent me reeling to the edge of the plateau. My arms windmilled in an attempt to keep my balance, but the ground was weak there and I fell.

"Angela!" I heard Logan scream as I reached out wildly for something, ANYTHING, to grab onto. My hand slapped hard against a small outcropping of rock and I literally held onto it by my claws. A heartbeat later, Logan's face appeared above me and his hand shot down and grabbed my wrist. "Hold on, baby, I'll pull you up." I could tell he was straining, so I tried to help by digging my foot claws into the side of the plateau, but the earth merely crumbled and I couldn't find a foothold to push myself up with. Just as he started to pull me up, Totem jumped on his back, grabbed his throat and ripped across with his claws. Logan's eyes went wide with shock as a great gout of his blood splashed my face.

"Logan, no!" I gasped in horror. I saw his lips moving, trying to say my name but his throat had been slashed so deep that he couldn't speak. He shook his head and tried again to pull me up, but he was losing blood too fast. His eyes fluttered and I felt his grip on my wrist relax. The last thing I saw was him trying to say "I love you" before his entire body went slack and he let go.

It felt like I hung in the air for a second before falling to the bottom of the ravine. The only good part was the fact that I can't break any bones. However, the sudden stop after a fall of that distance isn't easy on the internal organs. Pain shot through my entire body when I landed, second only to the adamantium bonding process. I could tell I had massive internal bleeding and my hold on life was slipping rapidly. I knew I would be back tomorrow, but I wasn't sure about Logan. I don't know how much blood he can lose before it's fatal or even if it would be fatal. My vision went black and I felt myself growing cold as I receded from reality. As the darkness swallowed me, I heard a scream of anguish come from the top of the plateau that I knew came from Totem. Before I had a chance to process anything else, I died.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN: **Ooh look, a cliffie:) Just think, you'll have to wait another three days to see what happens next...:) All the same thank you's and stuff as the previous chapter...but before i forget...

**:Begin Jedi Mind Trick: You will click the review button...you will let Rowena know what you think of the story...it only takes a few seconds...you know you want to...all the cool kids are doing it...:End Jedi Mind Trick:**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **Logan isn't mine, which is a very sad thing...the other X-Men and all their stuff aren't mine either...Fox and Marvel are the lucky ones...Angela, Buzz and Totem ARE mine and they get angry when other people touch them...so save yourself the trouble and don't...:)

**AN Take one:** Well, readers...you almost didn't get your update today...it took me over an hour to log into the site and i almost gave up so i could go to sleep...but, as you can see, the site righted itself and your update is here...:)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 6

(Logan)

I have endured many terrible things in my life, survived horrors that only a handful of people can truly understand. I have been tortured, mentally raped and enslaved by madmen. I have wished I could die on more occasions than I can count and been close enough to taste it only twice. But none of that compares to the complete sense of despair I felt when I looked into Angela's eyes and we both knew she was going to fall.

I tried desperately to hold on to consciousness long enough to bring her back over the edge of that plateau. But Totem had slashed my throat open almost to the bone and the combination of blood loss and my healing factor going into overdrive drove me into a kind of coma, pulling reserves from all parts of my body, basically shutting me down until it could repair the damage.

I came to all at once, pushing myself to my knees and popping my claws. It was already full night, but I had work to do before I would rest again. I looked around wildly, hoping that Totem was still near enough for me to tear his guts out, but he was nowhere to be found. I calmed myself enough to take stock of my surroundings using the one sense that's never failed me: scent. I caught and discarded most of them, pine trees, churned earth and the spoor of small animals. Over all of those was blood, mostly mine, but also some of Angela's and most important of all, Totem's. I had him now. I would find him and kill him, fuck whatever Xavier wanted with him.

I stood and shook my head, then went in search of a way down to where Angela probably lay dying if not already dead. I'd taken less than a dozen steps when a great keening wail filled the night. I stopped to listen for it again and when it came, I could hear the anguish in that sound. I knew just how he felt, but it was his fault that this had happened in the first place. I followed his scent to a thin trail about a hundred yards from where she'd fallen. I made my way down, forcing myself to go slowly to avoid being heard. No one moves more silently than Angela, but I'm no slouch when it comes to stealth. The animal was beating the inside of my skull, howling to be set loose. I kept it at bay long enough to make the journey to the bottom. Once I got there, all bets were off.

The moon was only a few days past full, so there was more than enough light for me to see by. I had no sooner made it to the clearing at the bottom when Totem let loose another howl of grief. White rage and despair flooded my mind and the animal burst free as an answering howl of my own. Totem's head snapped up and I saw for the first time that he was clinging to Angela, weeping over her body, mourning the loss of one that had been promised to him as a mate. It only made me angrier.

I closed the distance between us so fast that he didn't have time to get off the ground. I kicked him hard in the face and heard a satisfying crunch as his nose broke. He went down on his back and I buried both sets of claws into his torso, pinning him to the ground. His eyes grew wide when he realized what had happened and who I was.

"I killed you!" He screamed, struggling to get up, but I held his legs still beneath me. "You're dead, I killed you!"

"Better than you have tried, bub." I snarled.

I pulled my right hand out of his chest and slashed his face open. He screamed in pain and rage, bringing his left hand up to do the same to me before grabbing my shirt and tossing me over his head. I rolled and came to my feet in a crouch and he mirrored my stance. His eyes grew wide again as he saw the cuts on my face disappear before his eyes. He recovered quickly, wiping his forearm across his face and dashing blood to the ground. But I was already on the move as he did so, slashing with my claws and snarling in rage. He backed up quickly, trying to gain the advantage, but I had him pushed against the cliff face in seconds, once again burying my claws in his chest to pin him there. He let out a gasp of shock and pain, but still held on enough to glare at me in a rage of his own.

In the moonlight, blood looks black. So it came as a surprise to me when the three black wounds across his face began to slowly knit themselves together. Not as fast as I heal, but faster than Angela. Those cuts would have taken her a couple hours to heal and she would have bled all the while. His bleeding had slowed to a trickle and the flesh was coming together slow enough that I could see the process at work. Well, I knew that if I took enough damage, I would drop into a coma and it probably wasn't any different for him. I pulled my left hand out and immediately slashed his throat open. His blood poured out hot, steaming in the night air. He stared at me in confusion before going limp on the remaining claws. I gave them a vicious twist as I pulled them out, letting him drop to the forest floor. He'd be out for a while, long enough for me to get Angela to safety before finishing him off.

I went over to Angela, cringing inwardly at how she looked. Her face was a mess of bruises and covered in blood, which was probably mostly mine. I couldn't begin to guess what kind of internal damage she'd taken, but she fell at least two hundred feet and even I would be hard pressed to come away from something like that without massive trauma. Even though I knew she'd come back to life in less than twenty-four hours, it was still hard to look at her and know that she was more or less dead at that moment. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I lifted her from the ground and made my way back up the trail.

It took me a little while to find someplace to put her where animals or Totem wouldn't find her. A tree had fallen over at some point in the distant past and there was a small hollow near one end of the trunk where it had come to rest against a boulder. I lined it with half of our blankets and piled the rest of them on top of her. Before I left to go finish my business with Totem, I carefully washed my blood from her face and neck, and then kissed her softly. "I'll be back, darlin'. I'm gonna take care of him. I love you." I looked at her one last time before letting the animal take over again so I could do what I needed to do.

Totem was just coming around when I got back. I didn't let him get that far before I picked him up by his throat and threw him across the clearing. He grunted and tried to stand, but I closed the distance between us and kicked him the chest, knocking him back down. I crouched in front of him and popped my claws in front of his face. "Say your prayers, bub. You're a dead man."

"I have no reason to live." He replied, bowing his head. "I failed to bring my mate home. I have shamed my father. I deserve to die."

Now I was confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Hellcat was promised to me. As her mate, it was my duty to protect her. I have dishonored myself by failing to do so."

I retracted my claws and sat back on my heels. On the one hand, I really wanted to kill this guy. It was his fault that Angela had died in the first place. On the other, he had no idea that she would come back. Had Stryker kept that piece of information from him? It wouldn't surprise me. I'd been her goddamn partner and I hadn't known about it until that time we'd be caught in some drug war on a mission. For a dead man, I sure kept coming up with new reasons to hate him even more. But for now, I had to make a decision. It was becoming obvious that he was way more brainwashed than I'd ever been, especially with his single-minded belief that Angela really belonged to him, as though she didn't have a choice in the matter. Maybe that had been the original intent long ago, but I had no idea how long he'd been at that base or if he'd ever been at Alkali Lake. Much as I hated to do it, I decided I needed information more than I needed his still-beating heart in my hand.

"Look, I would really love to oblige you in the death department." I growled. "But I have some things that I want to know before I do that. So we can do this the easy way or the hard way, the choice is yours."

"I have nothing to say to you." He replied, sitting up. "You have taken what doesn't belong to you."

"Bub, you're gonna have to get over that real quick. Ang…Hellcat isn't the kind of woman to take kindly to being considered 'property'. No one tells her what to do."

"But Father promised…"

I cut him off. "Your 'father' lied to you. And I'll bet he did more'n that to you." I held up my hand and slid my claws out slowly. "See these? Your 'father' gave these to me. I have bone underneath them." I retracted my claws again before continuing. "I have the same shit all over my bones. He did the same thing to you, didn't he?"

He nodded. "He did not give me claws like yours. And he could not do my tail or it wouldn't be able to grow."

"What do your remember of your life before?"

"My family cast me out. Father took me in when I was very young."

I thought that over for a bit. I had an idea of how old I was and Angela knew how old she was, so was it so hard to believe that he could also be a lot older than he appeared? "How old are you, anyway?"

"I…" He stopped short and appeared deep in thought. "I…don't know. I don't remember."

Just the answer I was dreading. He wasn't in control of himself any more than I had been not so long ago. Which meant that I couldn't just kill him outright. "Totem, I'm gonna make a deal with you."

He narrowed his eyes. "And what would that be?"

"I have a friend that might be able to help you. If you can stop tryin' to kill me and stop tryin' to claim An…Hellcat, I'll take you to him."

"Why do you think I need anyone's help? I know what I am and what my purpose is."

"Listen to me. I used to be in the same position you are. So was she. Stryker was a complete bastard and he used us to do his dirty work. He worked me over so bad that I don't remember most of my life. I'd bet he did the same thing to you."

"You're saying that Father stole my life?"

I nodded. "Yep. And I'd bet that he had his pet telepaths fuck with your memory so much that what you do remember isn't even real. My friend can help you figure it out."

He lowered his head as he considered my offer. I had no reason to spare his life and he knew it. He had nothing to lose. I couldn't see where he would refuse. And he didn't. "I will go with you. If Father truly lied to me, then I want to know the truth." I stood up and held my hand out to him. He pulled himself up, still a little shaky on his feet. I turned back to the trail and started back to where I'd left Angela, Totem following a few steps behind me. He paused at the top. "Where are we going?"

"To get Hellcat." I replied, moving in that direction.

"But she's dead."

I looked over my shoulder and smirked. "For now."

"I do not understand."

"Don't worry, bub. Sometimes I don't understand either."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**No real author's notes til the end of the next chapter...however, that doesn't mean you shouldn't review this chapter anyway! Go on, you know you want to and reviews make me do the happy dance!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** See previous chapter, i'm too tired to be clever right now...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 7.

(Angela)

I came around like I always do, one sense at a time. Hearing is usually first, followed by touch, smell, taste and sight in that order. So, the first thing I heard was Logan's breathing followed by the patter of raindrops on the ground. The profound sense of relief I felt at hearing that simply cannot be described. He was all right, that's all that mattered. The next thing I noticed was I was not in a tent. I could feel sticks, small rocks and other forest litter digging into my back, which was not of the good. After that, I could smell blood, which was probably Logan's, in my clothes. I could also smell the rain and the damp earth, which was comforting in it's own way. Next came the taste of blood; some of it mine, most of it Logan's. A small corner of my mind promised to kill Totem for slashing his throat. I never wanted to see that much blood come out of him again.

Finally, I opened my eyes. It took a minute for them to focus, but the first thing I saw was Logan sitting next to me, smiling. I smiled weakly back. "Hey lover. You're a sight for sore eyes."

"Welcome back, darlin'." He replied, brushing my hair out of my eyes. He put his arm around my shoulders and helped me sit up, not that I needed it. Once I'm completely recovered from an untimely demise, I feel better than ever. I took a look around me and I stiffened when I saw Totem sitting next to a campfire, neat as you please. I tensed to spring and Logan tightened his hold on me. "Easy darlin'. We've come to…an understanding."

"I hope it involves you holding him down while I kill him." I replied, rage building inside me.

"Sorry, not today." He said but didn't let me go. "If it's at all possible, his mind's more fucked up than mine is."

I looked at him as though he'd grown another head. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Logan?"

"I swear it's really me. This guy," he said, gesturing with his thumb, "he don't remember anythin'. And what he does remember, I don't think we can trust."

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, grimacing when I came to a huge clot of dried blood in the back. "So I can't kill him? Can I wound him?"

"Not for long. He heals like we do. Better than you, not as good as me, but he'll get better."

"Fuck." I spat bitterly. "This sucks. Why did I decide to be a good guy? It was easier the other way."

"But not better, for either of us. You know I'm right."

I nodded. "Yeah. Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I know darlin', believe me." He replied with a chuckle. "C'mon, we have to get him back to the Professor."

"Great, just what I always wanted. A three-day hike with someone who thinks I'm his mate that I really want to kill." I stood up and stretched. "You sure know how to treat a girl."

"I try."

We made our way over to the campfire and Totem's eyes widened when he saw me. I gave him a cold smile and sat down across from him, considering him carefully. He looked different from the day before, less feral somehow. I looked closer and saw that he no longer had the tail or claws that I remembered. Before I could ask him about it, he spoke.

"How is this possible?" He asked, looking at me with wonder.

"I have nine lives." I said evenly. "Get used to it. And get used to the rules, because I have plenty. You violate any of them and I'll cut your fucking heart out, you understand?" He nodded. "Good. Number one, I am not now nor will I ever be your mate. You touch me for any reason and you're meat for the wolves. Number two, you do whatever Logan or I tell you to do, no matter what it is. Number three, if you ever do anything that puts me or Logan in jeopardy again, I'll kill you so slow you'll beg for death. Got it?" He nodded again, eyes wide with fear now. "Good. Now, I ask you answer. What's your real name?"

He lowered his eyes. "I do not remember. There is much I do not remember."

I nodded. "Doesn't surprise me. Stryker was never one to let his 'projects' have anything they could call their own. Were you at Alkali Lake?"

"Yes. I was…changed there. Fath…he gave me the metal there."

I nodded. "How long were you there?"

"Until three months before it was destroyed and Fath…he died."

"Why did he move you?"

"He said it was time for me to claim my mate and kill Wolverine."

"Why did he want Wolverine dead?"

"Father did not like the fact that Wolverine escaped. He considered him a failure for breaking control."

"So what was supposed to happen to me when you found me and took me back?"

"You were to be my mate and we would have many children that I could raise in my image."

I looked away, sickened by that thought. I took a moment to compose myself before continuing. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I have my own free will and might want to choose a mate on my own?"

"Father told me it would not matter. He would make you love me."

I clenched my teeth, biting back the rage that continued to burn in my gut. It took every ounce of willpower that I had to resist gutting him right then and there. I closed my eyes and counted to ten, then opened them slowly to fix him with a steely gaze. "If you ever had even one shred of humanity in you, you would know how wrong that truly is. No one has the right to force anyone to do something they don't want to do." He looked at me as though unable to comprehend what I was saying, which only pissed me off more. I took a deep breath and continued. "William Stryker was a madman. I'd bet anything I've ever owned that he was going to have someone get inside my head and fuck with my mind until I believed the same things you believe right now. He would have stripped my mind of everything that makes me who I really am. He wouldn't have given you a willing mate; he would have given you a mindless toy. And if he couldn't succeed, he would have tested me to destruction." He looked at me in confusion again. "Totem, he would have killed me. Slowly, one test at a time until he finally did something that even I can't come back from."

Totem finally had the courtesy to look shocked. I don't think he realized until then just what a monster he'd been calling "Father" all this time. "Father lied to me?" He asked, looking wounded.

"Yes, he did." Logan replied. "He lied to all of us. He created us to do terrible things for him. And nothin' you say will ever change that."

"I…I would like to think about these things, alone if I may." Logan looked at me and I nodded. Totem walked quietly to the edge of the forest, just out of range of the light given off by the fire. I sighed and sat back on my heels, suddenly very tired.

Logan sat next to me and I leaned against him, his arm sliding around my shoulders. "Gods above, I hate interrogating people."

"I know, darlin'. But we have to remember that he's as much a victim here as we are. We have to get him back to Chuck."

"I know, I know. But we were also more or less given permission to…deal with him if we had to."

"Do you really think it'll come to that?"

"I don't know, Logan. I don't trust him. I know how I was trained, what I was trained to do. I have no reason to believe they'd train him any less." I closed my eyes and sighed. "Much as I hate to do this, I think we'll have to keep a watch until we get back to the mansion. He's programmed to kill you and take me back there. I will not go back there. I'll kill myself first."

Logan wrapped both arms around me and held me so tight it took my breath away. "Darlin', I won't let that happen." He kissed the top of my head and relaxed his hold on me. "Why don't you go ahead and sleep? I'll keep an eye on him."

I was too weary to argue with him, so I just nodded. I gave him a quick but firm kiss, and then went back to the little nest he'd made for me the day before. I smiled to myself at the sweetness of the gesture before curling up in the blankets and drifting into an uneasy sleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Flashing lights in a myriad of colors streak around you, pools of red, purple, blue and green swirling over your body and those of the people dancing around you. A thin sheen of sweat covers your face and neck, tendrils of black and bright blue hair sticking to your forehead. Music pounds through the speakers in the club (_my club)_, the bass pounding hard enough to be felt even in your unbreakable bones. You recognize the song as "Getting Closer" by Nitzer Ebb, one of your favorites. You've heard this song a thousand times, but tonight the words fill you with a sense of unease._

"_One step, two steps_

_Getting closer, getting closer_

_Let them believe me_

_Let them wonder if I lied…"_

_You cease moving, scanning the crowd around you. The flashing lights are no longer beautiful to you, but disorienting, as though they are conspiring with an enemy you can't see to camouflage something that should be obvious to you. You fight your way through the crush of bodies, trying to get to the more open areas of the club around the bar and the tables, trying to get into a better position to defend yourself._

"_I know what you buy_

_But I'm not selling_

_I know what you buy_

_I'm not gonna try…"_

_You finally make your way past the throng and quickly scan the crowd for something, anything that explains your feelings. Nothing jumps out at you right away, it looks like the same crowd of 20something people who are always at this club _(this is MY club, RnR. Why am I here?)_. You make your way towards the front door, hoping that whoever or whatever it is that's got your hackles up will show itself, but nothing happens. You continue to peer intently at the scene in front of you, searching for the one clue that's eluding you._

"_You never take_

_You think that you're just right_

_You never did that_

_Just right_

_Is it good_

_Done for you_

_You're gonna miss out_

_Done for you…"_

_You catch something moving furtively through the shadows underneath the stairs that lead to one of the booths that overhang the dance floor. Just as you turn to move that way, you catch the same scurrying movement near the bar. Your body tenses, claws sliding out of their own accord and you take a firm step towards the new figure. Yet as you turn, something else catches your eye and you move your head slowly towards the dance floor. Your eyes widen as you see yourself out there, dancing with someone. You stare for a moment, mesmerized by the sight, until the person you're dancing with turns your way. A white rage fills you as you see that it's Totem. You begin to move to the dance floor with firm, angry steps, but a prickling on the back of your neck alerts you to danger._

_You turn to face the new enemy, but before you have a chance to size up the opponent, excruciating pain races through your body. You look down and see a fist pressed against your midsection, blood dripping to the floor at your feet. You raise your head and you see that it's Logan, feral rage contorting his features into a horrifying visage. He pulls the three blades out of your stomach and you lurch forward a step. You try to reach for him, but he backs away, sheathing his claws. You fall to your knees trying to stanch the flow of blood, but it's a futile effort. As you begin to slip away, you find the strength to ask "Why?"_

_"Listen to the music, darlin'." He says and walks away._

_You strain your ears. You listen to the music._

"_I've got to say that it hurts_

_I've got say that it hurts_

_I've got to say that…"_

_You don't know what hurts more right now, the wounds in your stomach or your heart as it breaks._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I came awake with a scream dying on my lips. I fought my way to my knees from the tangled blankets, hands clenched to my stomach as the phantom pains receded from my consciousness. Logan was at my side a heartbeat later, a frantic look in his eyes, with his claws out. Instinctively, I fell back and shuffled away from him, strangling another scream. His eyes widened in shock at my reaction and he retracted his claws, holding his hand out to me with his palm up to show that it was empty.

"Angela, it's ok." He said in a soothing tone. "It was just a dream."

I relaxed, collapsing to the ground and gasping for air. "Holy shit, that was bad." I said, covering my eyes with my forearm. I heard Logan creep over to me and managed not to flinch as he gently took my other hand. I looked at him and smiled weakly. "Sorry about that."

"It's ok, darlin'. More Bad Old Days?"

I shook my head. "No, this one was purely symbolic." I sat up and recited the dream to him. His face went through every emotion from confusion to anger to horror in the end. "I have NO idea where that came from." I finished.

"Me either." He said, looking away as he gained control of his emotions. When he looked back, his eyes held a note of fear and pain. "You know I would never hurt you, right?"

"Logan, we've been through this. I trust you completely. I know it wasn't real, no matter how it felt at the time."

"It's just…I've seen you wake up freaked before. But you've never woken up lookin' scared o' me." He sighed. "Can't say I liked it."

I sat up and pressed my forehead to his, placing my hands firmly on his shoulders. "Lover, it was just a bad dream. I'll figure it out soon enough. Why don't you get a nap and I'll keep an eye on him for a bit, ok?"

He nodded. "Yeah sure. If you think you'll be all right with him."

"Oh, we'll be fine. And I'm sure you'll wake right up if there's a scuffle. I've never known you to sleep through a fight." I smiled and winked at him.

"Damn straight. Don't want you havin' all the fun!" He smiled back and kissed me. I stood up and stretched, scratching my head to get rid of the last flakes of dried blood that were still stuck to my scalp. I blew Logan a kiss once he got settled into the blankets before making my way to the fire. Totem was there, curled up on a blanket and apparently asleep. I sighed and poked at the fire, looking over at our new traveling companion. I didn't trust him. I really didn't like him. But there was something about him. My dream was trying to tell me as much.

I just wish I knew what it was.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN take two:** Uh oh, what does this mean? Hehehehe...i know and so do my beta readers...the rest of you have to wait...:) Speaking of beta readers, a big thanks to Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel for all their hard work...very big thanks to DBK(tm) for his terrier-like begging for more chapters...it's really all his fault that i get these done as fast as i do...:) Very big thanks to everyone who reviewed...i appreciate that you took the time to give me feedback...Last, but not least, Huge thanks to the readers...sure, i wrote this and my other story for my own amusement, but it makes me happy to know that other people are enjoying themselves as well!

**Now click the "submit review" button down below...I promise, it's painless and your feedback helps me to be a better writer...:) Good reviews get happy dances...flames will be met with a snifter of brandy and a cigar...:)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** Last seen a couple chapters ago...if you don't already know that I don't own Logan and that I find that to be a very unhappy thought, then you haven't been paying attention...:) However, I do own Angela, Buzz, Totem and a couple other odd characters here and there...hands off of them, they get irate when strangers try to play with them...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 8.

(Logan)

Our new "friend" managed to behave himself after I went to sleep. He even helped us break camp and pack our gear, offering to take some of the burden off both of us. I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and I knew the going would be easier on Angela that way, so we fashioned a pack out of a couple blankets and he shouldered it without protest.

Halfway through the day, it started to snow. I'd smelled it for a couple hours, but it wasn't a heavy snow. Angela started to grumble almost immediately. "Fuck, this sucks. I hate snow."

"I know darlin'. But at least this time I have clothes on." I replied with a smirk.

"Oh you are the most incorrigible!" She replied, smacking me lightly on the shoulder. I just chuckled and lit a smoke.

We hiked until dark, the snow finally starting to stick to the ground. Without prompting, Totem cleared a patch and found enough deadfall to start a fire. I put up the tent and got our sleeping gear in place, which was when it occurred to me that we needed new sleeping arrangements. It would never do to have Totem alone in the tent with Angela, yet I couldn't bring myself to leave the guy out in the snow. He might have plans for my woman, but I'm not completely cruel. Not all the time, anyway.

I made my way back to the fire, where the two of them were sitting in an uneasy silence. She was doing her normal routine, putting together something for us to eat, while he just sat there, watching her every move. I tossed a scowl in his direction as I came up next to her. "You doin' ok?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He creeps me out with the staring. But at least it's not like he's watching me sleep or anything." She shuddered. "I hate that."

I looked down to hide my smirk. Yeah, there's one thing I'll never admit to her. "Umm, we might have a problem." I said looking back up.

"What's that?"

"Three of us, one tent. And I'm not leavin' you alone in there with him for any reason."

"Logan, we can't make him sleep outside!"

"I know, darlin'. And you can't sleep out here alone either."

"So what are you suggesting?"

I let out a long breath. "We'll just have to all go to sleep at the same time. And I'll put me in between the two of you, so he'll have to go through me to get to you."

"You do know he could go outside to take a piss, then walk over to the wall next to me and cut through it, right?"

"I would hear it and be on his ass so fast he won't have time to react."

She thought about it for a bit, then nodded again. "All right. I don't like it, but I don't see that we have a choice."

"Yeah, I know." I leaned over and kissed her and she managed a smile for me. I sat down by the fire, feeding a few more branches to the flames. I caught Totem's eye in the sudden flare and he was unable to mask his hatred for me before I caught it. I scowled again, a sudden feeling of dread coming over me. He seemed to be complacent, even cooperative, but I got the impression there was more going on behind those eyes that I hadn't figured out yet. I would, though. It was just a matter of time.

We passed the rest of the evening in wary silence, watching the fire as it burned down to mere embers. When it finally came time to sleep, Angela went into the tent alone to change. Totem rose as though to follow her, but I stopped him with a firm hand to his chest. "I don't recommend that, bub."

"Are we not going to sleep now?" He asked, seemingly confused.

"Yes, we are. But if you get past me and go in there before she's ready, she'll rip you apart. And I don't want to sleep in a pile of your guts, got it?"

He nodded and we waited outside for her to give us the all clear. Yet another reason to hate this guy. I'm used to helping her change for bed. Or something like that. A few minutes later she called out to us and I preceded him into the tent.

Angela was already curled up on the far side of the tent from the doorway. I moved in next to her, pausing just long enough to remove my boots before lying down next to her, wrapping myself around her protectively. Totem frowned at the display, but took to his bedroll without complaint. I closed my eyes and tried to relax enough to sleep, but his presence in the tent had me wound too tight for that to happen. Still, I could feign sleep long enough for both of them to pass out. If I couldn't sleep, I could at least keep watch.

Naturally, the night passed without incident. Once again, Totem made himself useful, but I still didn't trust this sudden complacence. I know what it's like to break out of one of Stryker's facilities. Brainwashing or conditioning or whatever aside, no one falls into comfort with people who wanted him dead two days prior this quickly. Hell, it took me a week with Angela and I was her damn partner.

It was on this second day of the hike back that I noticed the slight changes in Angela's behavior. She was starting to look at him with something like curiosity as opposed to the blatant hostility of the previous days. She was also starting to talk to him. Not like deep, meaningful conversation, but asking him to hand her things or help her with the fire. I didn't need an excuse to get close to her, but I gathered her into my arms several times so I had a reason to smell her. Her scent hadn't changed, so she wasn't developing attraction. But she was losing her mistrust and I didn't like it.

We did make it back to the Jeep without incident, with the exception that Angela was now being outwardly nice to Totem. She still didn't smell any different, but there was something going on here that I couldn't figure out. I wasn't looking forward to the long drive back, so as soon as we had our gear stowed and made space for Totem, I plugged the cell phone into the charger and called the mansion. Chuck picked up on the third ring. "Hey, it's Logan."

"Logan!" He said, sounding genuinely pleased. "I've been tracking your progress. I take it things have gone well since the initial contact was made?"

"Yeah, you could say that. Listen, can you send Storm with the jet? The weather's gettin' chancy up here and we ain't exactly near the roads right now."

"I wish I could, but she and Scott have gone to South America."

"Excuse me? What the hell for?"

"I discovered a mutant in a very dangerous situation. They've gone to retrieve her and bring her back."

I cursed under my breath. "All right, fine. We'll just drive in shifts and no stopping." I looked over my shoulder and lowered my voice. "Chuck, I don't trust this guy. There's something off about him."

"Just get him back here and I'll see what I can discover." He said goodbye and broke the connection. I cursed again and went back to the Jeep.

Angela was already in the driver's seat with Totem sitting next to her. "What the hell you doin'?" I asked them both.

"I'm driving." She said simply. "We had a deal."

"Yeah well, I think we'll be better off drivin' straight through. So you drive til you're tired then I'll take over." She opened her mouth to protest, but I silenced her with a finger on her lips. "Ah! I'll let you drive after you rest, I promise."

She glared at me. "You better."

I switched my focus to Totem. "And you. In the back. Now." To his credit, he moved without protest. I settled into the passenger seat and took Angela's right hand in my own. She smiled at me and squeezed it.

"Ready to go home lover?" She asked.

"Hell yes. I want a hot shower."

"And you called ME 'soft'." She said, chuckling. I smiled at her and she started the Jeep. The trip from the mansion to where we left the Jeep had taken a little less than a day, not counting our stop at the motel. We weren't going to make that stop this time, so I put our time of arrival at some time the following afternoon. Storm and One-Eye would be back by then with the new arrival and Totem would be safely installed in a room half a mansion away from us. Life was good.

I took over the wheel for Angela about seven hours later. We'd finally made it back to main roads a couple hour previous and we'd stopped to fuel both the Jeep and ourselves before continuing. When Angela started yawning, I offered to take over. When she almost went off the road, I made her let me take over. She protested the whole time, grumbling that she wasn't that sleepy, but less than fifteen minutes after striking out again, she was asleep in the passenger seat. I smiled and stroked her hair and she smiled a bit in her sleep. With luck, she'd stay out for a good long while and I could talk into letting me drive the rest of the way. Maybe.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Interlude: Dreaming

(Angela)

_A field of red stretches all around you, as far as your eyes can see. The sun shines brightly in a cloudless sky the precise shade of a robin's egg. You move forward through the field, pausing for a moment to reach down and touch the red. A wave sweeps across the red, shaping it into thousands upon thousands of wild roses. You prick your finger on a thorn and jerk your hand back. A drop of blood the precise same shade as the roses wells up on your fingertip and you marvel at it for a moment. Funny, you never noticed how red your blood is before. Usually, it's nighttime when you're bleeding, so your blood looks black. You casually suck the drop from your finger before continuing on._

_You feel drawn to something across the field, but you can't say what it is. You walk for what seems like hours, yet you also seem to make no progress through the roses. You pause again to listen around you, to peer into the distance for some indication that you're going the right way. But the red field never ends, never changes. You start to panic, your breath coming in fearful gasps as you try to find something, anything to fix on as a goal. Might as well decide to stop at a rose, as they are the only things you see. Your feet begin moving again, slowly at first but speeding into a breakneck run. You kick off your shoes at some point and the thorns bite into the bottoms of your feet. Your blood mingles with the roses, lost, forgotten._

_You lose your footing and tumble headlong into the ground, thorns scratching and biting your flesh as you roll to a stop. You lay there for a moment to catch your breath, your back afire with pain from the thorns embedded in the skin. You sit up slowly and as you do so, darkness washes over the field._

_The roses are as black as the blood seeping from a thousand tiny wounds. A chill wind lashes your hair and you whip your head from side to side, looking for shelter. At first, you see nothing, but a sudden flare of golden light ahead of you draws your gaze. A fire, perhaps? It doesn't matter. You brush leaves and bruised rose petals from yourself and trot towards the light._

_Yes, it is a fire, but no one is there. Still, you sit next to it, warming your hands and watching as the thorn pricks begin to heal. The process mesmerizes you as though seeing it for the first time. It holds your attention so closely, you don't hear as the two shadowed figures approach from either side._

_One is tall and slender, the other tall and powerfully built. Both look upon you with desire. Your gaze is initially drawn to the powerful one, your eyes giving him form as you take him in. As the shadows melt away, you realize it's Logan and that you love him and he loves you. You know you are his forever._

_However, your gaze is slowly pulled away from him to the slender figure, which you look upon with curiosity. The shadows flee from him quickly and you see Totem standing there. You stand slowly and consider the two men in front of you._

_Logan holds out a hand. "Come to me, Angela. I love you. I will always love you. Trust me."_

_You stretch a hand to him, smiling, but Totem's voice interrupts you. "Hellcat, my love, my mate. We belong together. You cannot fight it. Father made sure of that. Come to me."_

_Your eyes are fixed on Logan, but your feet betray you and you move to Totem. Tears stream down your cheeks as you try to fight the compulsion and the look in Logan's eyes changes from love to fury. Just as your hand closes around Totem's, you hear a distinctive "snikt" sound and you scream in pain as the tips of three razor-sharp claws burst through your stomach. Another scream is torn from your throat as three more claw tips appear next to the first. Logan screams in rage, pain and loss as he pulls them out, catching your body as it falls._

_"Why, Angela? Why did you make me do it?" He asks, tears streaming down his face._

_"I…don't know. I can't…help myself." You bring your fingers to his lips and smile. "I love you, Logan."_

_He throws his head back and screams again as darkness enfolds you._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** Ooh, what's going on here? Heh heh...keep reading and find out...:)


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **Nothing's changed in the past 47 seconds, sadly enough...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 9.

(Angela)

I came awake all at once, barely containing a scream. Just like the last time, I was almost completely unaware of my surroundings, still firmly in the grip of the dream. I could hear Logan saying my name, but he might as well have been a mile away for all that I could respond. I sensed the Jeep slowing down, which I assumed meant that he was pulling over. My heart was pounding so hard I was afraid it might burst, but I felt Logan's hand gripping my own and I clung to it like a lifeline. Finally, the Jeep came to a halt and I felt Logan turn to me.

"Angela, darlin', come back to me." He said and I could hear the panic in his voice. My eyes were open, but I was having trouble focusing on him. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me gently. "Come on, snap out of it! It was a dream!" After what felt like an eternity, my vision swam into focus and all I could see was his face. "You with me? Come on, talk to me!"

"I'm getting sick of this shit." I murmured, running my hands through my hair. "I think I'll give up sleeping, hang out with Jones all night from now on."

"Jesus Christ, you scared me." He growled, gathering me into his arms. "What was it this time?"

I glanced over his shoulder to the back seat before answering. "Roses and betrayal." I said. He pulled away from me, looking at me with confusion. I glanced to the back seat again and he scowled. I shook my head slightly. "I'll tell you more later."

He nodded. "Ok darlin'. You all right?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just…let's go home, ok?" He nodded again, then kissed me. I settled back into my seat, slid out the claw on my right thumb and chewed on it, deep in thought. This was twice now that I had betrayed Logan in my dreams. Was Totem lying to us? Was he a telepath on top of everything else? Or was it something worse, something I couldn't control because it was an animal thing?

That thought scared me most of all.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I didn't ask to drive again for the rest of the trip. I was still too shaken up from my dream to feel comfortable behind the wheel and I knew Logan was all too happy to drive anyway. Still, when we pulled through the gates of the mansion, it felt as though a great weight was lifted from my shoulders. No matter what was going on, I knew that Charles would help me get to the bottom of it.

Totem had fallen asleep somewhere along the way, but he came awake with a yawn, blinking sleepily at first but his eyes widening as he took in the mansion. I just smiled. "Impressive, isn't it?" I asked.

"I had no idea it would be so big!" He exclaimed, clearly excited. "And you say this is a school?"

"Yep, sure is. And it's my home." I opened the door and hopped out, holding the seat forward so he could climb out after me. I leveled my gaze upon him with all seriousness. "It could be yours, too. If you want it to be."

"I have no other home anymore. So, perhaps I will stay here." He didn't say it, but I could hear the "with you" dangling at the end of the sentence anyway.

I gave him a short nod. "Come on, we have to meet with the Professor in a little bit. We'll find you a room." Without waiting for his agreement, I turned and entered the mansion.

It was just the way we left it, which means there were kids slacking in the lounge, playing pool or video games and even one or two doing homework. I stretched my hearing a little and caught the sounds of kids outside, shooting hoops or just hanging out on the lawn. Totem came in right after me and the kids in the lounge stopped what they were doing to look at him. He lowered his eyes and after a moment, normal activity resumed but with added conversation about our new guest.

"Follow me." I said and went up the stairs without waiting to see if he did. I passed the room I shared with Logan without a glance and headed to the other end of the hall. I wanted as much space between us as I could get and still have him sleeping in the house. It would be rude to put him in the stable, after all. I opened the door next to Kurt's room and flicked the switch next to the door. "This will be your room, as long as you want to stay here. There's some spare clothes and stuff in the closet, the bathroom is through that door over there if you want a shower."

"Thank you, Hellcat." He said and I raised a hand to stop him. "What?"

"Around here, we only use code names on missions. The rest of the time, we use our real names. So call me Angela, Wolverine is Logan and you'll meet everyone else later, ok?"

"Ok Hell…Angela." He replied and seemed uncomfortable saying it. "I think I will rest for a while, if that's all right."

"It's fine. I have to meet with the Professor and he'll want to meet with you eventually. But after everything you've been through he'll be ok waiting a bit."

He smiled at me and I left the room, closing the door softly behind me. I leaned against it and sighed, glad that was over. I practically ran to my room, shoving the door open and barely catching it before it slammed shut. Logan was already there and he crossed to me and caught me in a rough embrace, crushing his lips to mine hard enough to bruise my lips. I returned the kiss just as hard, tearing at his shirt. He broke away long enough to spin me around and back me towards the bed and we fell upon it together. It had been days since either one of us had bathed in anything but an ice-cold stream, but we didn't care. We'd also had company for many of those days and we were feeling the frustration in a big way. For the first time in a very long time, we both gave way to our animal natures and let them take control of the situation. I will say it again; it's a damn good thing we both heal fast.

An hour later, we emerged from the shower, ready for our meeting with the Professor. I clutched Logan's hand tightly, suddenly nervous. He didn't know it, but I was planning on asking Charles to read my mind. I don't like it when people go rummaging around in my head, but there had to be an explanation for my dreams in there somewhere. Naturally, we didn't have to knock on his door when we arrived, he just called out to us to enter.

"Hey Professor." I said, not meeting his eyes.

"Angela, Logan. I'm glad you're both well." He replied, bringing his wheelchair around to the front of the desk as Logan and I lowered ourselves to the loveseat. "I trust everything went well."

Logan looked at me and I took a deep breath. "Not exactly, Charles." I told him about the dreams I'd had and the way that my feelings for Totem had gone from suspicion to almost friendly in such a short period of time. "Professor, there's something he's hiding and I don't like it." I took another deep breath. "Can you…would you read my mind? Please?"

He looked at me gravely. "Angela, I know how you feel about that and I've respected your wishes. Are you certain you want me to do this?"

"Positive. I need to know if Totem's the one doing it or if…if it's all me."

"Very well." He wheeled closer to me and held his hands to either side of my head. "I need you to try and relax. This won't hurt." He closed his eyes.

He was right, it didn't hurt, although it did feel a little weird, kind of like my head was a sock drawer and someone was digging around looking for a matching pair. I kept a firm grip on Logan's hand the whole time, resisting the urge to fight back. It's something that I'd learned back at Alkali Lake, to let the most horrible things I'd ever done or experienced flood my thoughts. Most telepaths can't take it and leave me alone, but I had to let Charles in as deep as he could go. After about ten minutes, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "Well, what did you see?" I asked, suddenly tense.

"I can say that it's not Totem who's doing this to you." He began and my heart sank. I glanced at Logan, who looked like he was ready to kill something. I just hoped it wasn't me. I looked at the Professor and he continued. "However, I'm not entirely certain that it's you, either. Can you meet me in the infirmary in about an hour? I'd like to do a deep scan and those are best done if you are not conscious."

"Um, sure, I suppose." I replied, my voice shaky. "Is it something bad?"

"Not as such, no. More like…unexpected. I just want to be sure I'm right." He backed his chair back a bit. "Now, tell me about our new friend."

"I think 'friend' is a mighty strong word, Chuck." Logan said and filled the Professor in on everything Totem had said about being my mate and the things he'd said about Stryker. "I didn't think it was possible for someone to have a more fucked up head than me, but I was obviously very wrong."

"Yes, it would seem that way." Charles replied. "But it seems that he doesn't have the same reservations the two of you have when it comes to telepaths, so I may be able to reverse some of his conditioning."

"Hell, at this point I think he'd be happy just to know his name. So would I, for that matter." Logan replied with a bitter laugh.

"Well, until I can meet with him, I'd suggest you ask your friend Buzz for information. He's managed to decode most of the files on those disks from Alkali Lake. Perhaps there will be more information in those."

We lingered for a few more minutes, exchanging small talk and school gossip before taking our leave. We wandered out to the patio, both of us lighting a smoke. I exhaled shakily and Logan squeezed my hand. "Why didn't you tell me you were gonna ask him to read your mind darlin'?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I was afraid of what he might find."

"You mean you're afraid that you like Totem because you…you're really attracted to him?" He asked, his body tense and his voice carefully controlled.

"See, that's just it. I'm not attracted to him, not even a little. But there's something…I don't know what it is, where it's coming from, what to call it…but there's something in me that's like pushing me towards him. And I can't help it."

"I see." He replied, clenching his jaw. He took a long drag off his cigar, letting the smoke out slowly. "So what do we do about it?"

"I don't know, I really don't. But I swear to you on everything I hold sacred that I will never betray you."

"I know, darlin', I really do." He turned to me and his eyes were hard. "But you've already been dreamin' about it, haven't you?"

"But they don't mean anything! And they've both ended with you killing me. So I hardly think we can use those as a baseline for this…thing with Totem."

"Maybe. And that's the only part of your dreams that won't happen." He looked away from me again to gaze over the school grounds. "But if I ever find the two of you…together, I'll rip his fuckin' heart out."

"I know."

We finished our smokes in tense silence, neither one of us willing to give further voice to our fears. The mere thought of betraying Logan was enough to make my gorge rise. But I still couldn't deny there was something trying to force me in Totem's direction. And I knew that Logan would kill him if I was ever unable to completely resist that force. The thought that I couldn't resist scared me more than anything.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Interlude: Professor X

Angela met me in the infirmary at the appointed hour, looking about herself nervously yet still managing a weak smile for my benefit. I smiled back and made my way to where she was perched on the edge of an examination table, Dr. Endicott hovering nearby in attendance. I stopped my chair next to her and took her hand.

"Do you have any questions before we begin?" I asked in what I hoped was a reassuring manner.

"Yeah. Why do I have to be knocked out for this?" She asked nervously.

"Actually, there are several reasons. The one that's most important for you is the fact that deep scans can take a long time under even the most ideal of circumstances. Since I have serious doubts that you'll let me stay in your room all night to do the scan, this is a better option." She smiled weakly, appreciating my attempt at humor. "The second reason is for me. Contrary to popular belief, reading minds is not like reading a book. A person's thoughts are not filed away in neat rows, ready to be accessed by anyone powerful enough to do so. Every individual stores his or her memories in a different manner. For example, Logan's memories tend to flash by very quickly. It's like trying to watch a slide show at a speed too fast for the human eye to comprehend the images.

"Your mind is more ordered, so the memories are easier to grasp. However, if what I suspect is true, what I am looking for will be buried beneath layers of memories that were telepathically suppressed. In order for me to find them, I will need to sort through a great deal of information. It will save us both a good amount of time and discomfort if I don't have to sort through your conscious thoughts at the same time."

She nodded in understanding and Dr. Endicott indicated that she should lie down on the table. As I took position near her head, the doctor busied herself preparing her for the scan.

"This IV is just a precaution." She said, inserting a canula into the back of Angela's hand. "We don't know how long you'll need to be out and I'm not sure how fast your healing factor will compensate for the sedative. This will allow me to regulate the dose until the Professor is finished."

"I get it, ok?" Angela replied, her unease growing into an almost palpable entity. "Let's just do this before I change my mind."

Dr. Endicott nodded and inserted a hypodermic into the canula, injecting an initial dose of the sedative. A few moments later, Angela's eyes fluttered closed and her breathing slowed. The doctor attached the intravenous drip, then attached a series of monitors to Angela's head. We both felt it would be best to watch her neural activity during the scan. If what I suspected was true, she may try to fight back, whether she realized it or not. The doctor checked a few more readings, then nodded to me to begin.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. My initial reading earlier had indicated that Angela possessed a series of telepathic controls, cleverly buried beneath the suppressed memories of the very sessions that put those controls in place. I had to break through those memories, bring them back into her conscious memory, in order to give her the ability to fight the controls. I wasn't sure if they related to Totem or if they dealt with other aspects of her training, but it was a risk I was willing to take, both for her and for Logan. However, it was a very real possibility that some of those controls were designed to fight off another telepath who attempted to break them. Fortunately, I'm not just any telepath.

I closed my eyes and inserted my consciousness into Angela's mind. I allowed most of what I saw to slide past me, mere glimpses of the memories she carried of her long and eventful life. I had no desire learn anything from this exercise except those things she'd asked me to do. In the space of a few seconds, I found myself standing next to her at Alkali Lake.

She looked so different back then. He hair was much shorter and didn't have those absurdly colored streaks that she loves so much. There was a sense of barely controlled anger in these memories, a rage so pure that only Logan would ever truly understand it. I followed the thread of these memories, which encompassed months of training, all the way up to her initial contact with Logan. I felt nothing that indicated the kind of controls I was looking for. Redoubling my efforts, I initiated a slightly deeper contact and continued my search.

I encountered the first block attached to a memory of a mission they had done in Beijing. There was a gap of about four days in her memory, although she had no idea that gap was there. The telepath who had done this was very clever indeed to keep her memory seamless to her. I took another deep breath and set to work attacking the block.

Just as I had suspected, it contained its own defense mechanism. Even unconscious, Angela's mind was fighting back, throwing me images of her alteration, of people she'd killed, feral thoughts and primal rage attempting to drive me out. I seized those thoughts and shunted them aside, reinserting them into her normal memory stream, leaving only a mental image of Angela standing before me in a defensive posture. "Who the fuck are you?" It said.

"You know who I am, Angela." I replied.

"Don't call me that! I'm Hellcat now!"

"You used to be. Now you are Angela Rex and you are at my school in New York. Nothing you see around you right now is real."

"You look real enough to me." The claws slid out of its hands and she took a step forward. I concentrated a bit harder, pulling memories of her time here at the mansion out of the unhidden portions of her mind and projecting them to her. She stopped moving and cocked her head to one side in recognition. "Professor? What's going on?"

"I've found part of what I'm looking for. I will explain it to you in greater detail when I'm done here. For now, let's just say that you have been programmed to fight telepaths in a very real sense. I need you to stand aside and let me pass."

"I…yeah, ok. Sure." As soon as she agreed, the image faded.

I found myself standing in a room not unlike the infirmary where we were both currently sitting. Angela was strapped to a table, hundreds of electrodes attached to her head and body. A technician sat to one side, occasionally pushing a button on the console in front of her. Angela's body would contort with pain with each push, relaxing a few seconds later and leaving her gasping for air. Positioned near her head, where I was sitting now in the lab, was a person who could only be a telepath. He was deep in concentration and would give an almost imperceptible nod every few seconds to the technician. I understood then what was happening. He was implanting something into her mind and when she started to fight, she was being shocked. Aversion therapy at its worst.

I concentrated on this scene, knowing that it was one of the keys I needed to find the implanted control. I moved closer to the telepath and placed a hand on his shoulder. Yes, this man was the key to the suppressed memory. I focused my will to hear what he was telling her.

_You will do what we say…you will respond as we wish…Totem is your mate…you will do what we say…you will respond as we wish…Totem is your mate…you will do what we say…you will respon…_

I had no need to hear anything else. The commands were being repeated with increasing success and were coupled with an image of Totem's face. However, Angela wanted no part of it. She already had a primal connection to Wolverine and her animal instincts were fighting back. I had the impression that Stryker must have suspected this and was unhappy with it. Everything I know about the man led me to believe that he would want to be in control of every aspect of her life, even taking away from her the right to choose her own mate.

This was a very clever bit of telepathic conditioning. Fortunately, I was confident that I would be able to break it. However, it would also require active participation on Angela's part. I carefully withdrew from her mind and opened my eyes. Dr. Endicott was sitting near the monitors, taking down the readings. I cleared my throat and she looked up.

"Hey Charles." She said, moving over to the exam table. "How'd it go?"

"I found what I was looking for." I replied, rubbing my temples. "I did what I could, but the rest will have to be done over time with her cooperation."

She nodded. "Understood." She busied herself removing the IV and detaching the monitors. "Her healing factor, though nowhere near as effective as Logan's, still did a fair job of throwing off the sedative. I had to increase the dosage twice while you were in there."

I raised my eyebrows. "How long was I in there?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at the clock. I was surprised to see that it had been nearly two hours. "My God! Logan must be frantic!"

"You could say that." She said dryly. "I think he's pacing in the hallway right now. He came down about an hour ago and I had to kick him out. He was insisting I bring her out, but there was no indication that she was in any distress except for a brief period about forty-five minutes ago. That's when I gave him the boot." She shook her head, chuckling. "You'd think he was waiting for her to give birth or something."

"He cares a great deal for this woman. I believe she is the best thing that ever happened to him and I will do everything in my power to keep it that way." I rubbed my eyes and moved around to the side of the table. "You might as well bring him in here. She'll be coming around pretty soon."

She nodded and walked over to unlock the doors. She barely had time to get out of the way when Logan came striding purposefully over to the table. He fixed a scowl on me before taking her hand. "Took you long enough, Chuck." He growled. "Find anythin' useful?"

"Yes, I believe I did. But I think it's only fair to wait for her to come around and we'll discuss it in my office this evening."

"What is it? Is somethin' wrong with her?"

"Not as such, no. But she has a right to hear everything first and I intend to wait until later to discuss this. In the meantime, I have to meet with our new friend." He nodded to me and I left the infirmary. On the way back to my office, I began to formulate a strategy for breaking this news to her. One didn't need to be a telepath to know she was not going to like it one bit.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** Uh oh...things are looking complicated for our friends here...whatever will I do with them? You'll just have to wait three more days to find out...:) I want to thank my beta readers, Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel for their vigilance and support...I'm not going to thank DBK(tm) anymore, since he's so wrapped up in the online Star Wars crack that he doesn't even beg for more chapters...so pbbtthht on him! Extra special thanks to those who have left reviews...your words of encouragement keep me going! Super special thanks to Rhia (RhiannonUK) and Dee (MidLifeCrisis) for giving me inspiration in new ways...love ya girls! And last, but not least, Super Swanky thanks to all of the readers for stepping into my version of the movie/comicverse and having a good time...of course, you could always leave me a review and then you get the knowledge that you were responsible for me happy dancing for ten minutes each time...:)

**So what are you waiting for? Review already! Good reviews get the aforementioned happy dance...flames will be met with skewered meat and veggies...**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** Back there somewhere...truth be told, I'm very tired and I don't feel like getting into it right now...:)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 10.

(Logan)

Dr. Endicott brought me a chair to sit in while I waited for Angela to come around. I hated the thought of anyone poking around in her head, even someone I relatively trust like Chuck. The few things I was beginning to remember coupled with the things she'd told me, I was pretty sure it was telepaths that had left me with a mind so fucked up it would probably be years before it all came back. And I knew I would never be lucky enough to get big chunks back with scent the way I had with Angela. Not unless I wanted to start sniffing everyone and everything I came across on the off chance it would work. As Angela would say, that's just kinda creepy.

It didn't take long for her to come out. The doctor explained how her healing factor had been compensating for the sedative and that her last dose had been enough to kill someone of Angela's size three times. I just chuckled at that; it would take a lot more to even knock me out, but I didn't mention it. The last thing I wanted was another doctor looking at me like some freaky experiment. I shoved those thoughts aside when Angela moaned softly.

"Hey darlin', welcome back." I said, kissing her hand. "How you feelin'?"

"Like I've been drugged to the teeth for about a day." She replied, still a little groggy. "How long was it really?"

"About two hours. Chuck wants to meet with us later, tell us what he found."

"Good. The sooner we get this over with, the better I'll feel." She moved to sit up, but clutched her head. "Oh gods, Logan. He jarred something loose."

I scowled. "What do you mean?"

"I'm remembering something. I thought I remembered everything, but I was wrong."

"What is it? Tell me." She went into a lengthy description of the memory, being strapped down and shocked while a telepath worked over her mind. I looked at her in confusion. "Wait, I just dreamed something almost exactly like that not too long ago and there weren't any telepa…shit."

"What? What's wrong?"

"There weren't any telepaths in my dream because they removed themselves from the memory. What the fuck did they do to me in there?"

"I don't know, lover. I wish I did. But Charles jogged this one loose for me, maybe he can do the same for you." She shook her head to clear it before sliding off the table to stand on shaky legs. Her arm snaked around my waist. "Get me out of here. I need to see sky."

I nodded in understanding and helped her out of the lab and into the elevator. By the time we reached the ground floor, the shakiness had left her legs and we walked outside hand in hand. We passed Jubilee and Kitty on the way, who saw us and giggled. What, the Wolverine isn't allowed to hold hands with his woman? I scowled at them which only made them giggle harder. God, please remind me why I work with teenagers on purpose?

Once outside, we walked back to the tree she had claimed as her own. She kicked off her shoes and scuttled up the trunk, disturbing the branches no more than a squirrel would. I should have known she'd want to perch somewhere to think, it's what she's always done. I shook my head and climbed after her at a much slower pace. She has claws she can dig into the bark to make her climb easier. If I tried that, well…let's just say it wouldn't be very good for the tree.

She'd settled in a little lower than her usual perch, where two limbs came together almost right next to each other on trunk. I took the empty seat and got as comfortable as possible before lighting a cigar. Angela had a cigarette clamped between her fingers and she was staring into the distance, facing away from me. The breeze shifted and I caught the salty tang of tears.

"Hey darlin', don't cry." I said, reaching out to touch her, but she shrugged my hand away. My heart clenched and I swallowed hard around a lump threatening to form in my throat. "It'll be all right. We'll make it through this. We've made it through worse."

"Have we?" She replied, taking a drag off her smoke. "Sure, we've fought our way out of some impossible battles, never lost a fight, killed a bunch of people. But this?" She shook her head. "No, this is the worst."

"Angela, listen to me. I know you can fight this. I'll help you."

"Logan, I'm fucking programmed to want Totem! I have a telepathically inserted compulsion to betray you! Do you think I can live with that for even a minute?" She turned to me and the pain in her eyes turned them a murky shade of green. "Out of all the fucked up shit that happened back then, I never thought anything like this happened. You were the only decision I made on my own and now I find out that it's being taken away from me years after we got out of there!" She crushed her cigarette out with her fingertips, hissing with the pain as the smell of her burning flesh flooded my nose. My hand darted forward to stop her and she lashed out at me. "Please, Logan. I can't take this. I have to get away from here, away from HIM. I can't trust myself."

"Look, I've never walked away from a fight in my life and I'm not about to start now." I said, my voice low. "Even if I have to kill the asshole to win."

"And what if I'm programmed to kill you if that happens? What will you do then?"

"Whatever I have to do. But this isn't gonna come between us and I'm not gonna stop lovin' you over somethin' you can't control. We can beat this."

She nodded and looked away from me. "Lover, can you just let me think for a while? Go find Buzz, see what those files had in them. I'll be in before dinner."

I frowned, not wanting to leave her alone like this, but I nodded anyway and gave her quick kiss before making my way back down the tree. I shoved my hands in my pockets and shuffled off down the path, lost in my own thoughts. I was used to fighting enemies I could sink my claws into, things that bleed and die. But this? How was I going to fight something that existed only in my woman's mind? I was feeling helpless and if there's anything as bad as an angry Wolverine, it was a helpless one. It made me want to pick a fight with someone just to feel like I was accomplishing something. Unfortunately, Chuck would probably not like it if I started beating either One-Eye or Totem to a pulp for no apparent reason.

I was halfway to the mansion when I heard the jet coming in. I remembered that Storm and the Boy Scout had gone to South America of all places to pick up some new mutant. I quickened my pace to a jog and made it to the hangar just as the ramp was coming down. The first thing I heard was the sound of arguing.

"Scott, you weren't there when we went to get Logan." Storm was saying with an edge to her voice I wasn't used to hearing. "If there's one thing I learned, it's that hostile forces tend to stay that way and sometimes you just do what you have to do."

"Damn it, Storm!" Scott replied forcefully. "There's no reason to use more force than necessary to get someone out of a fight! And killing people should only be the very last thing we do! We have to be better than normal humans if we're ever going to be respected by them!"

"Those men had precious little respect for life in the first place, human or mutant! Or do you think that they were guarding a cocaine factory to keep that crap OUT of everyone's hands?"

"Look, I'm just saying we should have subdued them, locked them in one of the buildings and sent the authorities to…"

"That's bullshit and you know it!" Storm yelled, her face about an inch from his. My eyebrows took up residence near my hairline. She must be pissed if she was resorting to cursing like me. "A setup that big couldn't operate unless someone was being paid to look the other way." She folded her arms and raised her chin in defiance. "Now, they've lost their fields, the buildings are probably still burning and not only did we save the mutant we went to save, but we've also managed to keep goddess only knows how much coke off the streets. All in all, I say it was the right thing to do. If you don't like it, you can shove it up your ass." She turned on her heel and stalked to the door, where she noticed me for the first time. I just gave her a knowing smile, which she returned with a wink. Finally, someone around here besides Angela and I had a clue.

Scott had turned his back and was waving someone down the ramp of the jet when I walked into the hangar proper. He turned when he heard me approaching and gave me a grunt as a greeting. I guess that was a step up from the usual non-greeting, so it counted as progress. I stopped in my tracks when I got a good look at the mutant they'd gone to rescue.

She was of average height, maybe five and a half feet tall with very dark skin and striking purple eyes. Her hair was black and very short, almost spiky in a punk way. But what stopped me in my tracks was the obvious mutation; she had wings. Not like bird or angel wings, but bat wings. I also noticed that her fingers were a touch too long and too thin, tipped with wicked looking claws. As I finished my scrutiny, I saw she had similar claws on her feet, which were currently bare. I looked her in the eye and gave her a smile, which she returned weakly.

"Logan, do you think Angela would appreciate you checking out strange women?" One-Eye said with distaste.

"Why don't you mind your own fuckin' business, Cyke?" I growled. "I ain't checkin' her out."

He snorted. "Sure could have fooled me." He turned back to the girl and beckoned to her. "I have to get her to the Professor. Storm and I don't understand a word she says." The girl came up beside him and stood there, obviously nervous.

"Hmm, what language is she speakin'?"

"She has a little Spanish, no English and the rest of it…no idea."

I looked at the girl again and introduced myself in Spanish. "Me llamo Logan. Y tu?" My name is Logan. And you?

She smiled wide. "Me llamo Chasca Lupaca."

Scott looked at me like I'd grown another head. "I didn't know you spoke Spanish."

I shrugged. "You never asked." I gently took her arm and led her from the hangar. She looked at me gratefully and asked me something in a language I didn't understand. I shook my head. "No comprende."

She lowered her head, biting her lip. I shrugged and led her to the elevator, getting a feel for her general attitude. She was obviously scared, which was only made worse by the fact that her primary tongue was something no one seemed to speak. I hoped she had enough Spanish so that she could speak at least some of the people here. We had a few kids who'd come from the Southwest and the Spanish-speaking neighborhoods in New York, Miami or Los Angeles. I was going through the roster in my mind, trying to think of someone who could help her learn enough English to get by around here. I also wondered if maybe Chuck could help her with that telepathically.

The elevator arrived at the ground floor and I led her to the Professor's office. True to form, he told us to come in before I knocked. I pushed the door open and led her inside. "Hey Chuck. This is Chasca Lupaca, the girl you sent Storm after." Xavier raised an eyebrow at the fact that I left Scott out of the statement, then smiled at her and motioned for her to sit down. He introduced himself in Spanish and she smiled again.

"Logan, there's no need for you to stay." He said as I went to take a seat. "I have a feeling that I'll be communicating with her telepathically more than verbally."

"That's cool." I replied. "I'm gonna find her a room and get one of the older kids who can speak Spanish to show her around." He nodded and returned his gaze to her. "Oh, before I forget, can you help her learn English mind-to-mind?"

"Most certainly. But I don't want to overwhelm her when she just got here. I'll make it clear to her that she'll be able to communicate with everyone soon enough."

I nodded and left the office. I still wanted to beat something to a pulp out of sheer frustration, but I still had to talk to Buzz before I could vent. I went back downstairs in search of him, finding him in the security office as usual. "Hey Buzz." I greeted as I entered.

"Hey." He replied, not looking up from his terminal. "Got some stuff for you."

"I heard. Let's see it." I pulled up a chair next to his and peered at the screen.

He closed whatever he'd been doing and pulled up another file. "Found this on one of the drives from Hudson Bay. Didn't know what it meant 'til the Professor told us what you found out about the new guy before you brought him back here." He moved away to give me some more room. "If you need anything, I'll be in the other room." I nodded and started reading.

The file I was looking at was under the heading "Weapon X". It detailed the procedure that Angela and I (and apparently Totem) had all been subjected to. However, it went into greater detail on the less physical aspects of the project: telepathic conditioning, memory alteration and removal, the chip Angela had heard about, amongst other things. It also listed the failed experiments and there were several names on the list I had never heard or seen before. At the very bottom of the list was both "Wolverine" and "Hellcat". I clicked on my name and a new file opened.

_**Code name: **Wolverine_

_**Real Name: **Unknown, uses Logan._

_**Aliases: **Jim Logan, James Howlett, Emilio Garra, Peter Richards. It is unknown if any of these are his real name and investigation of any of them has proven fruitless. Has also been called Patch, Canada and Wildboy in some areas._

_**Age:** Unknown (see Mutations below)._

_**Current residency: **Alberta, Canada_

_**Mutation(s):** Rapid regeneration, which renders him immune to poisons and all known drugs, resistant to disease and the effects of aging. Current age is unknown, but estimates based on investigation indicate he may be anywhere from 80 to 100 years old at this time. Has bone claws that can be ejected from between his knuckles on both hands. Enhanced senses, primarily scent, but also has better than average eyesight and hearing. Has been known to degenerate into a feral state when severely injured or angered._

_**Other information:** Is fluent in several languages including Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Cheyenne, Lakota, Chinese and French. Has some knowledge of Thai and Vietnamese. Is currently employed by Canadian Special Forces as a deep-cover operative._

I sat staring at the computer, not fully comprehending what I was seeing. Here was proof that I had a life before Alkali Lake that wasn't spent wading in blood. As I read further, I discovered that I'd been extracted by Stryker's goons while on a mission for the Special Forces. The nature of the mission wasn't mentioned, but I was willing to bet that as a deep cover operative, it wouldn't have been considered unusual for me to drop out for long periods of time. If I was ever reported missing, there was no record of it. The file also detailed the training and conditioning program, which verified that I was trained specifically to be an assassin. The last entry in the file stated that I was the best candidate to become his "Weapon X", or the tenth in a series of experiments to make the perfect weapon, just like Angela had told me. It also said that I was considered a failure, having escaped just after completion of the bonding process. It was an understatement to say I was stunned.

I was vaguely aware that Buzz had come back in and was standing behind me. I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding and turned to him. "How much of this can you backtrack for me?" I asked, pushing away from the computer.

He shrugged. "Probably all of it, but it'll take time." He replied, sitting back down in front of the computer. "But I'll warn you that the Special Forces stuff will be really hard to get into and once they figured out you weren't coming back, they might have purged you from their records."

I nodded, trying not to show any disappointment. "Yeah, I kinda figured. But damn it, kid, I need answers and this is the closest I've come in a long time. Just do what you have to do, all right?"

"You're the boss. I only work here."

"You do this for me and you'll be my hero." I replied with a smirk.

He glanced up at me and grinned. "Cool. I'll be a superhero's hero. I like it."

"I ain't no superhero." I growled.

"Sure. And I'm not a computer genius." He grinned again at my scowl. "I got a bunch of stuff on that Totem guy in here too, if you wanna look at it."

"I'll go over it later with Angela. Right now, I have energy I need to burn."

"Well, I saw her heading to the Danger Room a little while ago, maybe you can catch her?"

"Thanks kid." He waved me away, once again working intently on his computer. I walked quickly down the hall, hoping to catch Angela before she started whatever it was she was doing, but the red "in use" light above the door was on. I sighed and took the stairs to the observation room above to see what she was doing. I walked over to the window and stared in shock at the scene below me. I don't know what happened, but judging by the havoc she was wreaking down there, she was pissed as hell.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** Ooh, what happened? Keep reading and find out! But i'd still really love it if you'd review THIS chapter and let me know what you think...:)


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** Same thing, different chapter...You know who belongs to me and how they feel about it...:)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 11.

(Angela)

I sat in my tree looking over the grounds for a long time, drinking it in as though I would never see it again. Logan seemed so certain that I would be able to overcome this thing that had been implanted in my head. I wasn't so sure. Hadn't my own dreams told me as much? That I was going to betray the man I loved more than anything alive on the planet? And I was going to pay the ultimate price for that betrayal. If he didn't kill me himself, I would do it for him. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that I should just go and never come back.

The hard part of that idea would be convincing Logan to come with me. He had a home here, people who cared about him that he'd made promises to. He had a job to do and not just teaching the kids, but also as an X-Man. He didn't always seem comfortable in the role of superhero, but it was one that suited him well. I knew that I had the resources to go anywhere I wanted and start a whole new life. I still had all the identification for Melissa Arthur, I could always pay Buzz to come up with all the other records for her and just start all over. If not for Logan, it would have been easy.

Gods, how could I leave him? I'd just found him again! The mere thought of kissing him goodbye again and walking away made my guts churn. I could no more leave him now than cut off my own arm, adamantium skeleton notwithstanding. He was right, I had to find a way to fight this thing inside me and purge it from my system once and for all. But that was much easier said than done. Charles and I had barely scratched the surface of this thing and I knew it would only get harder as time went on. I had no idea anything was buried there in the first place. Gods only knew how much deeper the rest of it was buried.

My thoughts chased themselves around in that general vein for hours. I absently noted the return of the X-Jet, the sounds of kids with free class periods roaming around the grounds and the more soothing sounds of the stream trickling behind me and the wind sighing through the branches of my tree. I finally decided that I'd had enough of brooding and climbed down to go for a run around the grounds.

I set out at a moderate jog, not wanting to get to the main portion of the grounds before the kids returned to their classes. I tried to clear my head of everything, letting the rhythm of my feet numb my thoughts. I continued to focus inward, letting my vision narrow to the path in front of me, my hearing centered on the sound of my footfalls, breathing and heartbeat. If I'd been in a place I considered hostile, I would never close off my senses like that, but the mansion had become my home as much as it was Logan's and I felt safe here. Not to mention, it was broad daylight and no one would be crazy enough to try and hit the mansion while everyone was awake.

I had managed to time my jog perfectly, as the last of the students were straggling into the mansion to whatever classes they had at the time. I quickened my pace a bit, pushing myself to go a little faster, a little farther, run a little longer than I had the last time. I had completed two laps around the grounds when I noticed I wasn't precisely alone anymore.

I don't know when he'd decided to join me, but I could hear someone running behind me. I initially thought it was Totem, making yet another attempt to convince me to run off and be his mate. I chanced a quick glance over my shoulder and stopped short in shock. It was Scott. He stopped when he caught up to me, breathing hard. I just smiled in greeting, still catching my own breath.

"Damn, I had no idea you could run like that, as much as you smoke." He said with a touch of irony.

"Healing factor." I explained. "Clears out everything that ails me. Gotta love it."

"Yeah, I guess you would." He shook his limbs, clearly not used to running quite as much as Logan and I were. "Hey, you got a minute?"

"Sure. Let's find a place to sit." He nodded and I led him back to the stream. I sat on the bank and immediately submerged my feet in the cool water. He lowered himself next to me, but kept his feet out of the water. "So, I'm guessing you have something on your mind and you thought talking to me would help?"

"Something like that." He replied, staring at the water. I waited for him to continue, keeping silent until he was ready. He finally gave a bitter snort. "I used to talk to Jean about stuff, you know?"

"Mmm, not really, since you haven't said anything yet." I replied with a little smile.

"It's just…I really want to blame someone, point a finger and say 'this is all your fault', but I know it isn't."

"I'm relatively certain I have no idea what you're talking about."

He looked at me. "You know me and Storm went to South America to rescue someone, right?" I nodded. "Well, it turned out to be more complicated than we thought by the time we got there. I don't know how long she's been on her own and she doesn't speak a word of English. By the time we got there, she'd run into some pretty bad people, I don't know if they were mercenaries or what, guarding a cocaine plantation. We think she'd been trying to break into one of the buildings for shelter or food, whatever. These guys found her and had her at gunpoint when we showed up."

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed. "Is she all right?"

"Yeah, she's fine. Shaken up, but not hurt as far as we can tell." He swallowed hard. "As for the guards…let's just say Storm was far less than pleased. I've known her a long time, we've been in all kinds of tight spots before, but I've never seen her like this."

"Let me guess. She saw the guns and didn't give them the benefit of the doubt?"

He nodded and swallowed hard again. "See, before Logan came, then you, I don't think she would have gone that far with them. I really believe she would have been content to get them away from the mutant and get us out of there. But she didn't hold back, not one little bit. She wouldn't leave until every inch of that place was in flames."

"I don't blame her. First off, the girl you saved was hopelessly outnumbered and I'm guessing she wasn't in much condition to fight them off in the first place. Secondly, hello! It was a fucking cocaine farm. I say we find them all and let her go to town on them. Anyone who has anything to do with that doesn't deserve the benefit of ANY doubt."

"I know, I know. But…I don't know, I guess I still want to believe that people like that can be brought to justice the right way."

"And what is that, exactly? South America might as well be another planet in a lot of ways. There's still places down there that don't have running water and you're worried about bringing hired thugs with automatic weapons who protect cocaine farms to justice? Screw that, I say bring them some instant karma. Storm did the right thing."

"It's not just what she did. I think, in some way, she enjoyed doing it. And that's the part I just don't understand."

Ah, so this was the real issue. "Scott, listen to me. I'm not going to tell you that she didn't. I'm sure she did, on some level. Do I think she's going to get a taste for killing people and forget how this war should be fought? No, she's not. Do I think she knows when extreme measures are the only ones? Absolutely. Logan and I were programmed to be killers, to do the very worst things possible without remorse. Our basically feral natures made it easier for them to do that, since both of us have predatory tendencies anyway. But Storm isn't made the way we are, not many people are and I thank the gods every day for that. She did what was right, you can't let things like that wait for justice that'll probably never come." I reached over and grasped his hand. "It wasn't an easy thing to do for her, I guarantee it. But it was right. You saved that mutant from an execution, you know that for sure. What you haven't figured out yet is that you probably saved hundreds of other lives by keeping that shit off the streets."

He smiled and squeezed my hand before letting it go. "Yeah, I did figure that out. But it's times like this where I really miss Jean. She would have been able to explain it all without words, just her mind inside of mine. She'd have made sense of it all. It still feels like I'm missing such a huge piece of myself and I wish to God I could find it again."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I kept my silence. We sat there for a while longer, listening to the water, when something occurred to me. "Scott, have you ever thought about going back there? To Alkali Lake?"

"What?" He asked, turning to me with an incredulous look on his face. "No! Why would I want to?"

"Well, like it or not, that's where she is. I'm thinking you never got a chance to really say goodbye."

"I don't want to say goodbye. I just want her back."

"I know, believe me I do. I'd finally resigned myself to never seeing Logan again, figured he was so far away he'd never cross my path or back with Stryker or dead. I grieved for him for so long, I didn't think I'd ever be able to let go. But I did, finally. I went back to the last places we were happy and I said goodbye. That was almost five years ago now."

"But you got him back. This is different."

"Yes, it is, but in a way it's the same. I let him go. I didn't want to, but I needed to. I couldn't have moved on if I hadn't." I was surprised to hear my voice shaking. "But I had to go back there too, you know. To Alkali Lake. It's the last place I know where Emma was for sure. I have no idea where she is now, if they even buried her."

"Oh God, Angela, I'm sorry. I forgot about that." He frowned and looked away from me. "I'm such a jerk."

"Yeah. But I'll forgive you this time."

"Not that I deserve it." He sighed. "But I think I get what you're saying. I haven't let it be real to me yet, because I haven't really let go. And Alkali Lake, it's the only grave she'll have."

"Exactly. I'm not saying you should go now or go alone, but when you're truly ready, you'll know. And you'll know who to take with you."

He turned to me and smiled, a little sadly. "Thanks, Angela. I know we didn't start off well and God only knows Logan still isn't sure about the whole thing, but you're a real friend. I might not act like it all the time, but I'm glad you're here."

"Anytime, Scott. Just don't flirt around Logan and we'll be fine." I reached over and patted his hand again before standing up. "Anyway, I was in the middle of a really good run. I think I'll finish that while I still have time before dinner."

"No problem. I have papers to grade anyway." He walked away down the path and I waved after him. I still wasn't sure why he thought I was a good surrogate for Jean in the listening department, but if I helped him at all, I was all right with that. I took a moment to stretch out again before setting out to finish my run.

I hadn't gotten halfway through the woods when worst-case scenario happened and Totem showed up in front of me on the path. I stopped short and immediately fell into a defensive crouch. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to talk to you, if I could." He replied mildly.

"About what?"

"What else? Us."

I gritted my teeth. "Did they put extra adamantium on your skull or something? Make it extra thick?"

"I do not understand."

"Let me explain it to you. I'll even use small words so there's no confusion. There. Is. No. Us."

"I know you feel it. I know it's in your mind. Father told me all about it."

I narrowed my eyes and shifted my weight, prepared to spring if I had to. "What do you mean?"

"He told me what he did, how he had his friends put me in your head so you would have to love me. How they taught you to want me above all others. He told me there would be no way for you to fight it."

I suddenly felt lightheaded and my vision was bathed in red. "I already know. The Professor told me. And he's gonna help me get rid of it."

"Why do you want to do that? Can't you see we belong together?"

"What I see is someone who is about to be very dead if he doesn't get far away from me." He held a hand out to me and I took a step back, preparing to strike. "I mean it. I love Logan; I will always love him. Nothing will ever change that."

"I will." He replied in a low voice and he moved towards me so fast I didn't have a chance to respond. His hand shot out and clamped around my wrist, pulling me into an embrace. I tried to order myself to fight back, break away, but I just stood there. His hand came up to my face and he traced my lips with his fingertip. "I will." He whispered as he moved in and kissed me.

Everything inside me was screaming to get away, but I found myself unable to do anything but respond and gods help me, I kissed him back. His other arm snaked around my waist, molding my body to his and I was still unable to fight it. It wasn't until he buried his hand in my hair, so much like Logan, that I was able to gain control and break away.

I shoved him as hard as I could and raked my claws across his face. "You bastard! Just stay away from me, do you understand? Stay away or I'll kill you myself!" I turned and ran back to the mansion, vaguely aware of him calling out to me. I hit the patio doors so hard I'm surprised they didn't shatter. Bypassing the elevator, I ran down the stairs to the lower levels and didn't stop until I made it to the Danger Room.

Once inside, I gave the verbal order to lock the doors and called up the bloodiest scenario we had, which was a brilliantly brutal creation of Buzz's. I told the computer to set it to level ten and to also run my personal workout soundtrack. The gray steel walls melted away around me, morphing into the halls of the school as the first notes of "So What" by Ministry filled my ears. I screamed along with the song as I tore through enemy after enemy, letting the heavy beat carry me along even as my rage at Totem and myself took over and I fell into a completely feral state. Ministry gave over to Metallica's "Creeping Death" and I fell upon more enemies, shredding flesh beneath my claws and reveling at the feel of blood running down my hands, even though a small part of my mind knew it wasn't real. Still the carnage continued, through everything from "Dragula" by Rob Zombie to "Sickness" by Disturbed, all the music that carried all my anger with it.

I had just gotten back to more Ministry, "Stigmata" to be exact, when the scene before me froze and melted back to steel walls. I whipped my head around to the door, fully intending to attack whoever came through it. It opened a moment later with a hiss and Logan came in. I narrowed my eyes and growled.

"Darlin', I don't wanna fight you." He said, hands out in front of him. "But I will if I have to."

"Get the fuck outta here." I snarled. "I'm in the mood for a fight, so if you're not, you're of no use to me."

"I don't know what pissed you off so bad, but you can't just do a level ten scenario without backup."

"Did I look like I needed fucking backup? Either step up or step out. I'm not done here."

"Fine." He said and fell back into a fighting stance. "You wanna dance with me? Let's do it."

I barked out a command for the computer to put my music back on even as I sprang forward in full attack mode. Naturally, it was a futile effort, since he knew my moves as well as I knew his. Still, sparring with Logan is a lot better than fighting virtual opponents. No matter how awesome the Danger Room is, it can only do what it's programmed to do and nothing beats good old-fashioned improvisation. On the other hand, sparring with Logan is like having a level eleven scenario. Unlike the programmed opponents, he's not predictable and he ultimately frustrates me into doing something stupid that would be suicidal at best in a real-life situation.

Which is precisely what happened. I remember it all with crystal clarity. "Join in the Chant" by Nitzer Ebb with Front 242 was playing and we'd already done a fair number on each other by then. He had blood smeared across his forehead from a nasty gash I'd opened up on his scalp, his shirt was torn in several places and I could tell he was barely keeping himself from going berserker on me. I was still in the throes of my rage and barely felt the bruised sternum, the swelling in my left cheekbone or the pain in my back from when he'd slammed me into the wall. My (technically) fatal mistake was losing it enough to go for his balls. I'm lucky in that he anticipated it and grabbed my foot as I kicked out at him, tossing me hard to the floor and falling on top of me, straddling my hips and pinning my hands to the ground. I struggled for a moment, a totally futile gesture, before going limp.

"Are you done tryin' to kill me?" He growled, keeping his temper in check. I nodded and he moved aside, letting me sit up. I ran my fingers through my hair and glared at him. His expression never changed. "What the fuck do you call this?"

"I call it working off steam, how about you?" I shot back, still angry but calming little by little.

"Workin' off steam? Sweetheart, I haven't seen you like this since Alkali Lake."

"What's it to you? I got angry at something and I figured killing virtual people would go over better than killing real ones."

"Angry? That was first rate, high quality rage you had goin' there. Wanna share with the class where the hell it came from?"

I looked away. "You wouldn't understand." Oh, was that ever the wrong thing to say.

"Excuse me!" He shouted. "I wouldn't understand! Who the fuck do you think I am? If anyone should understand, it's me!" He grabbed my chin a little roughly and forced me to look at him. "Now tell me what the hell is goin' on here and let me decide what I do and do not understand, got it?"

I sighed. "It was Totem." I said, lowering my gaze to his chin, not able to look him in the eye while I said this. "He…I ran into him while I was out running earlier." I glanced back to his eyes, then looked down again. "Logan, I don't know what happened or how but I…he kissed me."

Logan dropped his hand. "What?" He asked, his voice far too even for my liking.

"He kissed me, Logan. But that's not the worst part, not even close."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No! Nothing like that. It's just that I…I kissed him back."

His face went white and he stood up. "Angela, what are you sayin'?"

I looked up at him, tears of anger welling up in my eyes and spilling down my cheeks. "Oh gods, Logan, I kissed him back! I couldn't stop myself! I tried, I swear I did!" I stood up and held my hand out to him, but he backed away a step. I felt my heart clench, crack, break. "Logan, please! You have to believe me!"

"Where is he?" He growled and I could see the rage building in him. "I don't care what Chuck says, that fucker is dead." He turned and stalked towards the door.

"Logan no!" I said, grabbing him by the arm. "Please, don't. It's not his fault. He told me…he said that Stryker told him about the programming. And how do we know that he isn't programmed too?"

"I don't give a fuck. He crossed a line, he has to answer for it." He jerked his arm from my grasp and turned to leave again, but I jumped in front of him. "Get out of my way, Angela."

"No, I won't. He's as much a victim as we are, remember? We can't blame him anymore than you can blame me."

He scowled at me. "What do you expect from me, darlin'? You think I can just sit back while he seduces you away from me?"

"No! We'll just…I don't know, just don't leave me alone with him. Or ever. Not until we have this compulsion thing out of my head."

He narrowed his eyes, but I saw his shoulders relax. "Fine. But I swear, if he so much as looks at you, I'm rippin' his eyes out."

"It's a deal."

He stood there for a long moment, then gathered me into his arms and pulled me close. "Jesus, Angela. For a second there, I didn't know if I wanted to kill him or kill you."

I nodded, swallowing hard. "I know, Logan. I've been dreaming about it, remember?"

"Maybe you were right and we should leave here for a while, get away from him and all the other shit."

"No, we have to stay and face it. Come on, we've never walked away from a fight, remember?"

"Yeah, I know. I just didn't realize I'd be fightin' myself too."

"Me either, lover." I pulled away a little, standing on my toes to kiss him. "Come on, we need a shower."

"Is that an invitation?"

"You know it is."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN: **Hmmm, what's happening here? Well, i'm not telling:) There's a bunch of people i usually thank here, but i hope everyone will forgive me if i skip it this one time...:) However, if you're a reader, beta reader, reviewer or fellow author, please know that i appreciate the time and effort you've all given me over the past months...:)


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I own Chasca, Totem, Buzz and a couple other mutants here and there (like Ryan Hiller)...everything else is owned by other people...especially Logan, which makes me very sad indeed...

**AN:** Just so you know, unless otherwise stated, if Logan is talking to Chasca, they're speaking Spanish...however, i exhausted everything i know about Spanish on the scene where she first showed up...if someone out there wants to translate for me, feel free to pm or email me the translation and i'll edit this chapter!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 12.

(Logan)

I haven't actively plotted to kill anyone in a very long time. Hell, I never even plotted to kill One-Eye over Jean. But knowing that Angela had something inside her that was going to push her towards Totem no matter what had me positively homicidal. It scared me more than I'll ever admit to anyone, because I didn't know if I wanted to kill him or kill her from one moment to the next. I knew it wasn't her fault, it was something that Stryker had done to her, but I was operating under the belief that she could fight anything and win. I just couldn't imagine how she would be able to fight something that was a part of herself that she never even knew was there until now.

Of course, I blamed Totem. I know that Chuck would have never sent us after him had he known what would happen. I know he did what he did because he thought it was right. In a way, I think his desire to always do the right thing will ultimately be his downfall, but at the time I wasn't concerned with that. All I wanted was everything to be the way it was before this guy showed up with a yen for my woman. It didn't help that she was programmed to want him back and I couldn't let her out of my sight. I know she hated it, too but short of leaving the mansion altogether, we didn't see any other options.

The next day, Chuck finally had his meeting with Totem. An hour later, he called Angela and me to his office. We cut our strategy and tactics class a little short to get to him right away. As always, he invited us in before we had a chance to knock. I flopped down in one of the armchairs near the window, but Angela remained standing, her arms wrapped around her in an almost defensive gesture.

"Thank you for coming right away." Chuck started, his chair gliding to a stop beside his desk.

"Don't mince words, Charles." Angela said. "It's worse that I…than we thought, isn't it?"

He sighed. "Yes, I'm afraid it is." His expression turned grave as he turned to me. "Logan, this won't be easy for you to hear."

"Just get on with it." I snapped. "It can't be any worse than what I already know."

"Very well." He folded his hands in front of him. "Totem isn't just programmed telepathically to believe that Angela is his mate. He was telling the truth about how he came to be in Stryker's hands. From what I was able to read, he was cast out by his family at the age of sixteen and arrived at Alkali Lake a few months prior to your augmentation. However, Stryker also employed other methods of conditioning to keep him under control. He actually has a very strong sense of personal honor and he believed that his mutation made him a shame to his family. By his reckoning, he should have killed himself. The exact circumstances of his capture weren't very clear, but as soon as he was taken to Alkali Lake, he was led to believe that taking Angela as a mate would bring honor back to the family in the form of his children, who would be able to protect family and clan in ways that normal people could not."

"Isn't that just fucking rich." Angela said, gazing out the window. "I supposed they started on me right after."

"Yes, they did." Chuck replied, turning to her. "Totem didn't know the exact circumstances of how Stryker's people discovered that you had a growing attraction for Logan, but he did know that once the two of you crossed the line from thought to action, there would be no turning back. However, I believe I have some good news for you in that regard."

"You'll let me kill him?" She asked, only half joking.

"No, I'm afraid that isn't it." He leaned forward in his chair. "It seems that the conditioning they were giving you wasn't completed. They were only able to place enough suggestions into your mind that would make you agreeable to Totem, but they'd been having trouble getting anything more than that to take hold. It is my belief that your feral instincts operate on too primitive a level for Stryker's telepaths to successfully overcome what you've known for so long."

"That Logan is the one I'm meant to be with, he's my true mate?"

"Precisely. And I believe that by working with you in a feral state will actually make it easier to break the compulsions they did manage to implant."

Angela sat down heavily, her hands covering her face. When she looked up, her face was filled with gratitude and hope. "Charles, I can't thank you enough for that. But I still don't want him anywhere near me until we're sure we got everything."

"Of course. Now, that leads me to the next part." He looked at me again. "It seems that they also started to program you as well, inserting hidden telepathic commands that they buried underneath suppressed memories."

"Like they needed to suppress anythin' else." I snorted. "They stole everythin' else, what's a little more?"

"Yes, but I believe that if we can uncover what they suppressed, it will go a long way to bringing more of your past to light."

It was my turn to lean forward in my seat. "What do you mean?"

"Totem indicated that they were programming you to be something called 'Weapon X', a perfect killing machine. As such, they didn't want you to remember much of your past unless it was something they could use. Again, during our meeting, I didn't detect anything that seemed untrue about what he said. He told me that Stryker attached certain commands to certain memories, so if you encountered something that reminded you of them, you would react in a certain way." He took a deep breath and if at all possible, became even graver. "From what I read, he believes that Stryker programmed you to kill Angela if you ever saw her with Totem. It was to be a kind of final test for you, after your augmentation, to prove that you would follow any order you were given even if it went counter to anything you'd done to that point."

I swallowed hard. "So, the things she's been dreamin', they're real?"

"I'm afraid so. I think it's because he used the same telepath to condition her and he was unable to control his thoughts to the degree necessary to perform such a task. There was some psychic bleeding, for lack of a better term, and he inadvertently 'told' her what would happen."

"So you mean that the same thing that's pushing me towards Totem is trying to tell me to stay away at the same time?" She asked.

"Yes. As for Totem", he looked down, his expression guarded, "I am not sure it will be as simple for him. He was taught to believe this was something that would give him back his honor. I can eliminate the telepathic commands, but something like that will be much more difficult to overcome."

"Leave that to me." I said, sitting back again. "I think I know how to handle that."

"Are you sure? You do have a personal stake in this, after all."

"I know, but it's not that. I just have a feelin' that I can give him back his honor and keep my woman away from him at the same time."

"Very well, I'll leave it to you. What about the commands that are left in your mind?"

"We'll get rid of 'em as soon as possible. I don't want anythin' in there that's a threat to anybody."

"Fine. Tomorrow is Saturday, we'll work on them for as long as it takes, if that's all right with you."

"Whatever. The sooner we get it done, the happier I'll be."

"Very good. Now, if there's nothing else?"

"Yeah, Professor, there is." Angela said, crossing to sit in the chair next to mine. "A couple things, actually. First off, what's Totem's real name, anyway?"

"I was wondering if you would ask. It's Kimura Kyrohyou, which is appropriate if you know Japanese."

"His name means 'panther'." I said, nodding. "Makes perfect sense, though the irony is kinda…well, ironic."

"He thought the same thing, all things considered." Xavier replied. "Though why Stryker chose to strip him of it completely is a trifle baffling."

"I know." Angela piped in. "Totem calls Stryker 'Father'. He wanted Totem to be his in every way, I'm certain of it. It's the kind of thing he'd have done."

"Yes, of course. Another means of control." Charles replied with a nod. "That makes perfect sense." He seemed to ponder this for a minute before giving his head a little shake. "So, what else did you need, Angela?"

"Actually, this is…about Scott." She said and I tensed immediately. I still wasn't convinced that he didn't have designs on my woman and it pissed me off. Angela just shot a glare at me and continued. "Charles, he's grieving so much for Jean, but he hasn't had any real closure." She leaned forward in her chair. "I have to say, it's not good for him. It's making him second-guess so much and that's not a good thing in the field. I'm pretty sure it's at least part of the reason he didn't want to go off half-cocked after Logan when he was taken. I think he's afraid of losing anyone else he genuinely cares about and he's overcompensating."

"I was afraid of this." Xavier said with a frown. "Storm told me during her report from South America that he was holding back more than usual, to the point that she overrode his orders and went in to rescue Chasca on her own. Scott did follow her a few moments later, but it's not the kind of thing he would have done before Jean's death."

"Charles, he needs to go back to Alkali Lake and say goodbye to her. I don't want anyone to push him into it, because it seems like I'm the only person he really trusts around here, even more than you." I growled at that and she just glared at me again. "I'm sorry, Logan, but it's true. I can only guess that it's because I've always been completely honest with him from the start, he knows he'll only get the truth from me. But there has to be someone else he can at least talk to about this. Surely Storm and Jean weren't his only friends while he was a student here."

Chuck settled back in his chair, deep in thought. His eyes roamed over his office, finally coming to rest on a piece of glass sculpture on the mantle over the fireplace. "Angela, I think I know just the person. Let me make a phone call."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later, I kissed Angela goodbye as she went off with Storm in the jet to bring someone back to the mansion. Seems One-Eye had a friend out on the west coast somewhere and Chuck seemed to think this guy was just what the doctor ordered to help him out with his grief over Jean. For the first time in months, I found myself at loose ends around the place and no idea what to do with myself.

Classes were done for the weekend, so the kids were in high spirits, which also meant they were loud. I was tempted to gather Beta team for a Danger Room session, just to have something to do, when the new girl, Chasca, came up to me. She already seemed a bit less fearful, which I'm sure was directly related to rooming her with Sofia Mantega Barrett, a mutant who'd come to us through the underground over the summer. She'd been living with her father in Colorado, but she'd spent the first seventeen years of her life in Venezuela, so she'd seemed like the logical choice to room with Chasca.

"Hello, Mr. Logan. How are you?" She said, looking down. "I wanted to thank you for finding me such a nice roommate."

"Hey, it's no problem. And its just Logan, ok?"

"Ok…Logan." She looked around the room at the other kids and sighed. "I just wish I could speak with more of the people here."

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure the Professor will help you learn English in no time. And you have me and Sofia to help you, so you'll be talkin' like a native in no time."

She smiled at me again and Sofia came up next to her. She asked Chasca if she wanted a tour of the grounds outside and they took off. I was still feeling mighty restless and decided to go into town for a beer. I went to my room to grab my jacket and just as I was closing the door, One-Eye came out of his room. I gritted my teeth and started towards the stairs, but he called after me to wait. I let out a breath of frustration and turned.

"Whattya want, Cyke?" I asked, not bothering to try hiding my irritation.

"Buzz says he has some new scenarios he wants us to test out before inflicting them on the students, as he put it." He replied. "Will you be around later?"

"Yeah, I'm just goin' for a ride. Be back in a couple hours."

"That's fine. I'll meet you in the Danger Room at 4:30 then?"

"Sure, whatever." I grunted and turned to walk away again.

He grabbed my shoulder. "Hey Logan. Are we ok?"

"The hell you talkin' about?" I growled.

"It just seems like since that misunderstanding with Angela that you're, I don't know, surlier than usual?"

"Look, it's in the past, all right? She's a big girl, she can take care of herself."

"I just don't want there to be anything that could affect the team going on, that's all."

"Really?" I leaned in a little. "Then take a good look in the fuckin' mirror, Cyke. I ain't gonna sugarcoat stuff like Angela does. You've got problems you need to work out and quick. Now, for some reason, you like talkin' to my woman about your issues and if she's ok with that, then I'm ok with that. But she ain't always gonna be there when you want her to be. You need to figure this out on your own." I pulled myself back up to my full height. "I actually thought you were gettin' past all this, but I guess I was wrong. I ain't sayin' you have to forget her, but you do need to let her go."

"That's easy for you to say. You found someone you actually loved before you came here and anyone with half a brain can see how true that is. I lost the only woman I've ever loved. Not everyone gets a second chance, you know."

I felt the blood rush to my head as a sudden burst of anger washed over me. I could have missed my second chance with Angela. I could have gone to another bar or another city and she'd still be lost to me. It was pure chance that I ran into her and I thank whoever is up there every day that it happened. But I had let her go, once upon a time. It was the hardest damn thing I've ever done and no thanks to Stryker, I forgot all about her. I took a step towards Scott, my fists clenched at my sides. "Ain't goin' there with ya, bub. Let's just say I got lucky, pure and simple, and leave it at that, got it?"

"Can you stand there and honestly say you don't miss her?"

"Jesus Cyke, whattaya take me for? Of course I do! But this ain't about me, it's about you. Do you what you gotta do to deal with this, but don't take forfuckinever." I turned and stalked away, wanting that beer more than ever. I just made it to the front door when, right on cue, Rogue intercepted me.

"Hey, where you runnin' to?" She asked, looking worried.

"Not now, Rogue." I snapped. "It's none of your business."

"Well, someone put the asshole pants on today." She shot back, glaring at me. "Angela's gone less than three hours and you go right back to your old charmin' self."

I sighed, letting some of my anger slip away. "Look kid, I'm sorry. I'm just goin' for a beer, I'll be back before you have time to plot my demise, ok?" She didn't say anything, but I walked out anyway. I wasn't in the mood for a heart-to-heart with her. In fact, I was in the mood for a fight. I tore away from the mansion and headed towards the city. As much as I still don't like big cities, they do provide me with a never-ending array of punks, thugs, assholes and other unsavory sorts who are just begging to be beat down. I rode around on my (ok, Scott's) new motorcycle until I found an appropriately seedy bar and parked out front.

As I walked through the door, I was assaulted by the mixed scents of cheap beer, cheaper perfume, piss and sweat. In other words, just the kind of place where I could get into a little trouble. It was still early, not quite two o'clock, but about a dozen people sat scattered around the place. They mostly looked to be regulars here, but a table at the back was home to a couple of toughs who looked like they were waiting for something. I recognized their scowls and arrogant posture; it reminded me of me. I took a seat at the end of bar, lit a cigar and ordered a beer.

As the bartender set the bottle down in front of me, I sensed someone coming up behind me. I caught a stronger whiff of the nasty perfume as the figure took the stool next to mine. "Hey good lookin'." She said as she settled in. "Never seen you here before."

"Just passin' through." I grunted, concentrating on my beer.

"That right? Then I guess today is my lucky day."

I glanced at her sideways, taking in her appearance. She looked to be about twenty, with dark blond hair pulled back from her face and about an inch of makeup on her face, which still didn't hide the fading bruise high on her left cheekbone. Her clothing, such as it was, left nothing to the imagination. "I don't think so, sister." I replied, taking a long pull from my beer.

"Oh come on, gimme a break." She whispered, leaning close to me. "Don't tell me you're not interested."

"I'm really not." I turned my attention to the television over the bar, which was tuned to a talk show of some variety, but my new friend wasn't willing to give up so easily. She leaned in a little more and placed a hand on my leg. I looked down at it, scowling, then back at her. "Look, I've had a really shitty day and you ain't improvin' my mood. So why don't you back off?"

She jerked back a little, looking a little hurt, but I could tell it was all just an act. "I'm sure I can come up with some way to cheer you up." Her eyes briefly slid to the table in the back that I'd noticed as I came in. "Come on, whattaya say?"

So, that's the name of this game. I grunted a little and gave her my best smirk. "You really think you can cheer me up? Fine, let's see what you got."

She smiled and took my hand, leading me out the back door of the bar to the alley. It has to be one of the oldest tricks in the book and why anyone actually falls for it anymore is one of life's great mysteries. She led me to a doorway about twenty feet from the bar door, one that was recessed enough that you'd have to be right on top of it to see anything. She gave me a little push and I obligingly stumbled into the wall, where she fell on me like I was the last man on earth. I closed my eyes, clenching my teeth to keep from shoving her back out into the alley. She rubbed herself against me, kissing my neck and making little groans of feigned pleasure.

Less than a minute later, I heard footsteps approaching followed by the click of a gun being cocked and pointed at my head. "Move and you're dead, asshole." A deep voice said from just behind the girl. I opened my eyes slowly and sure enough, the toughs from the back table were both standing there. The one holding the gun was about twenty-two with a shaved head and black eyes glittering with menace. His friend took the girl by the arm and shoved her out of the way. He was a little older, maybe twenty-five and holding a knife loosely in his right hand. They both sported a tattoo on the back of their left hand, some kind of gang symbol I'm sure. Fucking amateurs.

Bald guy shoved the barrel of the gun against my temple. "Just give us your wallet and the keys to that fine ass bike and we'll let you walk away." He growled.

I looked him right in the eye, letting a touch of my feral side out. "You picked the wrong guy today, bub." I whispered.

"Oh yeah?" He said and his finger tensed on the trigger. I shot my hand out and grabbed his wrist, squeezing it until I heard something crack and he howled in pain, dropping the gun. I spun into him, driving my elbow into his face, breaking his nose. Blood spurted over the bottom half of his face and when I let go, he fell to the ground, gagging. I felt a sudden pain burn through my lower back and turned with a snarl to face the other guy. He pulled his knife out of me, dripping with blood and he waved it around in what was supposed to be a menacing gesture.

I looked at him with an icy stare. "C'mon, you think you can scare me with that little thing?" His eyes widened as I slowly slid the claws out of my right hand. "Now we can do this one of two ways. You can take your friend here and call it a day, or we can dance, your call."

They must not have been as desperate as I thought, because Knife Guy picked up his friend and they scurried away so fast they almost left a dust trail. I retracted my claws and took a deep breath to calm myself. I heard a sound behind me and turned to see the girl curled up next to a trash can, crying. I walked over and helped her up. "Look, mister, I don't want no trouble. Just let me go."

"I ain't gonna hurt you." I replied. "But do yourself a favor and get the hell away from those losers."

"I-I can't." She stammered. "They'd kill me."

"You keep up this scam and you'll be dead anyway."

"I got nowhere else to go."

I sighed, really hating the world at the moment. I took out my wallet and grabbed all the cash I had in there, almost five hundred bucks, and shoved it into her hand. "Here, take this, get a ticket to anywhere out of here. Ain't no reason for you to work for assholes like that." I didn't wait for her reply, I just walked out of the alley and back to my bike. As I pulled away, I saw her stumble down the sidewalk in the opposite direction her so-called friends had gone. I wished her luck as I sped down the street.

I arrived back at the mansion in a slightly better mood than when I'd left. True, I would have preferred to fight both those guys, but it left me with plenty of energy to take out on the new scenarios Buzz had waiting for me and Cyke. I went up to my room to stash my jacket and get rid of my bloody shirt before suiting up and going to the Danger Room. As I went in, I waved up to Buzz in the control room before taking position next to One-Eye.

"So, he say what these are about?" I asked, popping out my claws.

"No. I think he wants it to be a surprise." He replied, not looking at me. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"Don't mention it." The steel walls melted away and our test run began.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two hours later, we were surrounded by the wreckage of several different vehicles and the inert forms of dozens of foes. One-Eye was panting heavily and limping on a badly sprained ankle, an injury he sustained when I shoved him out of the way of a grenade that had been lobbed at us. My uniform was covered in blood, most of it not my own, though I'd taken a few pretty good hits as well. The carnage melted away and the plain steel walls came back in a rush.

"Jesus, Logan. I had no idea you could move that fast." Cyke said, slumping to the floor.

"I tried tellin' you weeks ago that you needed to work out more." I replied, pulling off my gloves. "Maybe you should join the senior defense class for a while. Let Kitty run circles around you for a few weeks. You'll be in shape in no time."

"I thought I was in shape."

"Hmph. Maybe for a desk jockey. You're supposed to be a superhero, you have to be held to a higher standard."

He laughed and tried to stand, stumbling on his ankle. I reached over and hauled him to his feet. "Thanks." He said, shifting his weight to his good foot. "Maybe I will join the class."

I grunted and walked out, heading straight for my room and the shower. I spent a lot longer in there than I normally would, I felt like I'd been trudging through Death Valley for a week with no chance to bathe. After getting dressed, I headed towards the patio for a smoke, but Chuck's voice in my head stopped me short. 'Logan, please come to my office.'

'On my way.' I cursed to myself and carefully pocketed my cigar, changing my route. The door was already open a bit so I just walked in. Kurt was there with the Professor. "You rang?"

"Please, close the door." Chuck said and I complied before taking a seat. "Now Logan, I don't want you to be alarmed…" He began.

I cut him off. "You know, that's the best way to make sure someone's alarmed, tell them not to be. What's wrong? Is it Angela?"

"After a fashion." He replied and I tensed in my seat. He held up a hand to stop me. "Now, it's nothing bad. She's all right, she hasn't been hurt." I settled back again and he continued. "You know she went with Storm on a special errand for me?" I nodded. "They've run into some…technical difficulties and will be gone for an extra day."

"What's that supposed to mean? Somethin' wrong with the jet?"

"No, it's just…they've run into an unexpected snag and will be delayed. I assure you, everything is fine and she'll be back late tomorrow or early the next day. I've asked Kurt here to assist you in the defense classes until she returns."

"There's somethin' you're not tellin' me. I have a right to know."

He sighed and leaned forward. "I will ask that you speak of this to no one, both of you." We nodded in agreement. "I've asked them to go and ask an old friend of Scott's to come here and help him with his troubles. He hasn't been around here for a long time and I didn't expect that he'd be so resistant to coming back. From what Storm told me, Angela was sitting down with him and several bottles of whisky to tell him her life story in an attempt to convince him that he was needed by more than Scott."

I gave a brief snort of laughter. "If anyone can do it, she can. And unless he has an iron liver, the whisky will do half the job for her."

"Oh, I'm certain he can hold his own. Nevertheless, they're only staying one more day. They will return after that, regardless of his decision."

"All right. I suppose I can live without my woman for that long." I grumbled.

"Ja, mein freund." Kurt replied. "But the real question is, can ve live vith you in the meantime?"

I scowled at him and Chuck as the broke into laughter at the comment. I left the office and went to the patio for my interrupted smoke. With friends like these, who needs enemies, really?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** I've noticed on my story stats that every other chapter has hits that are way off from the chapter immediately before...for the readers out there, in case you hadn't noticed, it had been requested that i do two chapter updates at a time so this story will be finished before i leave for vacation on August 7...so if this story is suddenly not making sense, you know why...:) I will repeat this message at the end of the next chapter as well, just in case...:)


	13. Interlude and Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** You know this already

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Interlude: The Pacific Northwest

The workshop was cloaked in very dim light and that was coming from the large oven in the western wall. A large figure stood before it, a long tube held in one hand with a bright yellow glowing ball affixed to the end of it. Taking a deep breath, he began to blow gently, expanding the yellow ball, turning it to keep it even. At one point, he pulls it away from the white-hot flames and rolls it gently on grooved metal plate near the opening of the furnace before continuing to blow. Once he had the piece the way he saw it in his mind, he lightly scored the piece where it joined the blowpipe. He opened the annealing oven and gently placed the piece inside. Lightly tapping the score mark he made earlier, he smiled when a crack appeared exactly where he wanted the piece to separate. He closed the oven and set the timer. He would have to wait for a few hours to see the finished piece. The annealing process could not be rushed. He looked over at the finished pieces on the shelf.

He reaches over and shuts off the gas jets in the furnace and then turns on the lights in the workshop. He wipes his face with a towel he keeps nearby, then turns back to the shelf containing his works in progress. As he makes his selection, he hears a sound outside the building, close enough to make things rattle in place but not so close that they break. Curious, he exits the building and looks around for the source of the noise.

Lowering itself from the sky, he sees a sleek black jet, one that he hasn't seen in nearly five years. He wonders what the occasion is to warrant a visit from his very old friends from his days in boarding school. The jet comes to a gentle landing, the engines powering down slowly. As the ramp lowers, he approaches the jet with a smile on his face. The smile grows wider as a slim figure emerges, her brilliant white hair a sharp contrast to the coffee-and-cream complexion of her skin. Her own smile is dazzling as she runs up to him.

"Sam!" She shouts, throwing her arms around the man. He leans over to hug her back, towering over her by nearly a foot. She smiles and plants a kiss on his cheek. "Oh, it's so good to see you!"

"Ororo, what are you doing here?" He asks, smiling down at her. "It's a welcome surprise, to be sure, but you usually call first."

Her face becomes serene as she glances over her shoulder. "Let's just say that something came up. You have time to talk?

"For you? Always!" He looks beyond to the jet and spies another slender figure making its way down the ramp. As she came into full view, the first thing he noticed about her was her hair, a mass of abundant dark brown curls with streaks of shocking pink. The next obvious thing was her demeanor, which was deceptively casual. However, having been trained as an X-Man, he saw the tell-tales of someone who was taking stock of the situation, looking for defensible positions and alternate escape routes. This woman was a warrior, regardless of anything else.

Storm took Sam by the hand and led him to the jet. The other woman gazed up at him with an impassive gaze. Storm gave her a small nod and made the introductions. "Sam, I want you to meet Angela, code name Hellcat." She said. "Angela, this is Samuel Levison, code name Atlas."

"Please, Ororo, you know I haven't used that name in ages." He admonished, holding out his hand to Angela. She gave him a firm handshake. "I'm very pleased to meet you." He looked at them both in turn. "So, what brings you here?"

"Business, I'm afraid." Storm said. He opens his mouth to protest, but she raises a hand to forestall his protests. "Please, hear me out before you say no, ok?"

He looks at her quizzically, but her expression remains closed. With a shake of his head, he offers her an elbow. "Well then, shall we go to the house?" He asks, smiling. She takes his arm and they make their way to the house, Angela trailing behind them.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 13.

(Logan)

_You're sitting at the end of the bar, nursing a beer and once again feeling the weight of loneliness weighing upon you. You're aware that your memory of her has been fading, bit by bit and the implications of that scare you. How long before you forget her completely? You've already lost just about everything from before those people caught you, only a few brief flashes of your previous life remain. Flashes that you can no longer make sense of no matter how hard you try. And now you're forgetting her, forgetting the woman you left on the road five long years ago. It takes you a moment to realize that you've actually forgotten her name, both of them. But you can still conjure up an image of her face, her wide eyes full of tears as you said goodbye and turned away. Your heart clenches as you realize it's only a matter of time before you can't even do that. Damn it! Isn't it bad enough those people had to make you into some kind of monster? A bigger freak than you were before? Now it seems they really did do something inside your head. At this rate, you won't remember anything except how to kill._

_You grit your teeth in frustration, then dig some bills out of your pocket and throw them on the bar. There aren't that many people in the bar, but it's starting to feel like they're all watching you, closing in on you and the feelings this engenders are dangerous indeed. Maybe you shouldn't be around people for a while, just go into isolation until you can better control the animal inside you. You realize this means it'll lessen the chances that you'll find her again, but at this point you don't even know where to look. Maybe it's better for her this way, maybe she'll be able to put everything behind her and start a new life. She was always more human than you, anyway. You still don't know why she loved you or what she ever saw in you. But you will cling to the few memories you have of her for as long as you can. They're all you'll ever have._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I woke up with strangled scream, sweat pouring out of every pore. In a lot of ways, that dream was a lot worse than the old ones of having my flesh peeled back and molten metal bonded to my bones. I'd rather be reminded of that than remember the day I forgot Angela's name. Of course, now that I was awake, the rest of the memory was as clear to me as the rest that I'd recovered up to that point. It only took a few more months before I couldn't remember anything about her, just an impression of someone out there, waiting for me to find her. In a lot of ways, my long years of wandering had been as much about that as it was the search for the rest of my past. Deep down, I think I believed that if I could find her, the rest would fall into place. In a way, it had. I knew there was something else keeping my memories at bay, another gift from Stryker to go with the claws and the metal on my bones. Another reason to be glad that he was already dead.

I threw on some clothes and went for a prowl around the mansion. I stopped in the lounge and said a brief hello to Jones, who gave me an absentminded wave before going back to channel surfing. I was amazed to also find the kitchen empty; usually I would find at least one or two of the older kids down here, raiding the fridge for a midnight snack. I made my way back upstairs and wandered through the kids' dorm, nodding briefly to Piotr who was doing a walkabout of his own. After all this time, they still felt better if someone was awake and actively patrolling the halls. I climbed a set of back stairs to the little-used third floor, where the servant's quarters would have been as recently as half a century ago. Now they mostly commuted from town, the few who lived here full-time stayed on the second floor with the rest of the staff. Not that anyone saw much of them, really. I think I'd laid eyes on the school cook twice and I once scared the life out of one of the housekeepers when I came out of the bathroom after a shower, in search of a towel.

So, the old servant's quarters had been mostly converted to storage. A couple of the rooms with the best light were used by the artistically inclined as studios. On occasion, some of the older kids would sneak up here for "privacy", although they were notoriously easy to catch before anything too intimate happened. The last thing anyone wanted was for Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters to become another statistic for teen pregnancy. Granted, our kids were a lot smarter than your average teen, but accidents do happen.

I was just about to make my way back down to the lounge to hang with Jones for a while when I felt a breeze whisper over my skin. I made my way down one of the smaller side hallways and noticed the window at the end was open. I let my claws slide out slowly and crept as silently as I could to the window. There was no sign of forced entry, so it had either been opened from the inside or by a telekinetic. The only one we currently had in the school was currently asleep, so I had to assume it was option one. I noticed that this particular window led out to the roof, so I pushed it open and stepped over the sill. I paused once I was outside, sniffing the air for any sign of recognizable scent. It only took a moment to acquire one: Totem.

I stalked silently around the roof, following his scent around to the other side near where the roof overlooks Graymalkin Lane. He was just sitting there in a classic pose of meditation. I slowly retracted my claws, crossed my arms and cleared my throat. He jumped immediately to his feet in a defensive crouch. I simply leaned against the frame of the window next to me. "What you doin' up here in the middle of the night?"

"One could ask the same of you." He replied, still crouching.

I shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. Decided to take a walk."

We stood there for a long time, sizing each other up. My pose was deceptively casual, given who I was facing. "Am I to be treated as a prisoner, then? I can not meditate where I am most comfortable?"

"I don't care where you meditate. That's not my problem with you."

He relaxed from the defensive posture, but I could tell he remained wary of me. "Ah yes. I am, as you say, the rival for Angela's affections."

"Yeah right." I snorted. "You ain't my rival. I know you talked to Chuck and I know he told you the truth about all that."

He shrank visibly, folding himself back into his meditative seat. "Yes, he did. It is not an easy thing for me to accept." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "That is why I am up here now. I am trying to search for the answers within myself."

"The only shit you'll find in there is what Stryker put in there. And since he was a lyin' bastard, you can't trust it."

He opened his eyes and looked at me curiously. "You sound as though you are concerned for me."

I sighed and sat down next to him. "I ain't gonna lie to you, bub. I don't like you, not one bit. But what that bastard did to us was wrong. He's already paid for that with his life, but we're the ones who have to live with it. So, much as I don't like you, I still know how you're feelin' about a lot of this. You got a whole lotta shit you have to work out and get rid of. And I hate to say it, but I'm about the only person who can probably help you with that."

"Why would you want to do that after everything that's already happened?"

"Because Angela believes I'm a good man in spite of what happened to me and the things I've done. Way I see it, if that's true about me, it might be true about you too. If I'm gonna be better than the bastards that did this to us, I have to at least try and give you a chance to prove her right."

"So you would help me for her sake?"

"Wouldn't you?"

"You have given me much to think about this night." He bowed his head to me and I took that as my chance to leave.

I stood and brushed my hands off on my jeans. "Oh, there is one other thing I want to make perfectly clear to you." I said.

"What?"

"When she gets back, she won't be left alone for any reason. If I see you within ten feet of her, I'll gut you myself." I turned and left without bothering to wait for a response. I went back into the mansion through the same window, closing it but not locking it so he could get back in when he was ready. I was bothered by the fact that, had things been different, I would have probably really liked the guy. He was a good fighter and had a deep sense of personal honor that I could identify with. I hoped like hell Chuck could get his head straightened out soon, even though gutting him still sounded like a pretty good idea to me. I made my way back downstairs to the lounge and flopped into an armchair. I looked over at Jones and grinned. "So, anythin' good on tonight?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I was awakened by the sounds of girlish giggling right behind me. I groaned and opened my eyes, leaning my head back so I could see who was standing behind the armchair. Big surprise, it was Kitty and Jubilee.

"Hey Wolvie!" Jubilee said brightly and I scowled. "Sleep ok?"

"Lee, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me 'Wolvie'?" I grumbled. "You're now the proud recipient of extra laps in defense later."

"What? Oh, that's so unfair!" She complained, turning to Kitty. "Isn't it totally unfair?"

"Hey, don't get me in the middle of this!" Kitty said, hands up. "He's told you like a million times."

Jubilee pouted and the two of them started down the hall towards the dining room. Of course, she wasn't done ranting yet and she always forgets how good my hearing is. "I'm sorry, I can't help it! He's just so…so…Wolvelicious!"

She was going to be doing laps until she was forty for that comment. I stood up and made my way to my own room for a quick shower and better clothes for teaching in before going down to breakfast myself. As soon as I walked into the dining room, all the older girls (and a couple of the boys) turned to look at me and broke into more giggling. I scowled at them before taking a seat next to Kurt, who also seemed to be far too amused for my liking.

"Guten morgen, mein freund." He said, passing me a plate of bacon.

"Yeah, whatever." I grunted, reaching for some toast. I nodded at the giggling kids, which only made them break up more. "What the hell's up with them?"

"Ah, that. It seems you are responsible for a new addition to their vocabulary." I groaned in near-genuine pain and lowered my head to the table. Lee was going to be running laps until she was ninety. "You should be flattered. No one calls me 'Kurtalicious', after all."

"Don't push your luck, elf. Alpha team has Danger Room later." He simply grinned at me and we ate our breakfast in silence that was occasionally punctuated by giggles from Jubilee and company. Forget it, she had laps for eternity. I'd make a deal with whoever was necessary to make sure of that.

And that was just the beginning of my day. I made sure to impress upon the girls that use of the word "Wolvelicious" meant many extra laps and me as a sparring partner for class. Kurt thought I was being too harsh on them, but I was not amused by this new word and wanted to put an end to it as soon as possible. If nothing else, they did stop using it within my range of hearing.

Jubilee barely managed to keep her lunch down after the extra twelve laps I made her do. Once her legs started semi-normal function again, she almost seemed happy that I would be her sparring partner for class and strutted to the front of the class with a wink to her friends. I quickly taught her the error of her ways and after tossing her across the mats for the hundredth time, she begged me to just let her die. I told her she'd do a lot better to make sure certain catch phrases were never uttered in my presence again and she finally understood why she was being treated this way. I still make her do extra laps every day, though.

Evening came and I was sitting out on the patio with a cigar, like normal, when Rogue came out to join me. She'd been spending more time with Bobby, who was a candidate for sainthood at this point by my reckoning. How any teenaged boy could survive dating a beautiful girl and not even be able to kiss her was beyond my reasoning, but I'm not in his shoes. At any rate, she sat down next to me and smiled.

"Hey Logan. How ya holdin' up?" She asked. I grunted in response and she laughed. "Missin' Angela, huh?"

"How can you tell?" I replied, still staring out over the grounds.

"We're not blind, ya know. And you've been a right proper dick the past couple days. It doesn't take a genius to know why."

"If you came out here to cheer me up, it's not workin'."

"Nah, why would I do that? Just wanted to hang out for a little bit."

I nodded and we sat there enjoying the night air. I asked her about school and Bobby, to which she answered "fine" to everything. After a few minutes, we finally got around the topic of Jubilee. Rogue insisted that Lee had no idea her little "joke" would take hold so firmly and that she was genuinely sorry for it. Naturally, I disagreed. "Come off it, Rogue. You know as well as I do that girl has no internal filter when it comes to the crap that comes outta her mouth. It's like her brain and her mouth ain't even connected."

"Hey, that's not fair!" She exclaimed. "We're all just kids, Logan. We're allowed to screw up sometimes."

"Not at the expense of my dignity, you're not."

"Oh, so that's what this is about!" She grinned. "You should feel honored. Normally us teenage girls only make up words like that for our favorite movie stars."

"Oh great, I'm a legend in all your minds. Just what I always wanted."

Her face grew serious. "Logan, you saved my life, twice. You saved everyone in the mansion from Stryker's men, so you saved their lives too. And you saved Jubilee and the others from Alkali Lake." She put her hand on my arm and I looked at her. "Logan, you're our hero."

"I ain't no hero, kid. I just did what needed to be done."

"No, you are. There isn't a person in this school that wouldn't follow you to hell and back. I know you're not comfortable with it, but it doesn't make it any less true. And we're all starting to feel the same way about Angela."

I raised an eyebrow. "Whattaya mean?"

"Angela risked herself to save you. She treated me and Kitty and the others like real people, took us with her to help get you back. We already felt pretty safe having just you around, but with her here? I don't think anythin' short of a nuclear blast is gonna get past you guys. And she doesn't lie to us, she doesn't make it sound like if we get a good education and just act normal that the world is gonna be ok with who we are. She knows, she's been there and she doesn't hide it from us."

"I never lied about that either, you know. I wasn't completely cut off."

"No, but you were close. You're our hero because you protect us. She's our hero because she doesn't."

Before I could reply, I heard the sound of the jet approaching. A few seconds later, Rogue heard it and smiled. I stubbed out my cigar and headed for the landing bay, when she called out behind me. "Have a good reunion, Logan!" I didn't even bother to shoot a scowl over my shoulder, I just ran inside to wait for my woman to come back to me.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** Interesting turn of events, i must say...:) Now, just in case you missed this last chapter, i wanted to remind everyone that i am doing two chapters per update as requested by other readers, so i can be finished with this story before i leave for vacation on August 7...my chapter hits are off and the only reason i can think of for that is people are skipping chapters because they don't know they're there...so if anything isn't making sense here, please make sure you haven't accidentally skipped every other chapter...:)

Special thanks to everyone...i'd be more specific but i had a rough night at work and i just want to get back to the next story and write about Logan beating people up...:) And for the record, we are past the halfway point on THIS story now:)


	14. Interlude and Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **Same story, different chapter, except now I can tell you that Angela, Buzz, Totem, Chasca AND Sam all belong to me...please do not use them in any way, shape or form without my permission or i'll sic Angela on you while you sleep...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Interlude: The Pacific Northwest Part II

Storm and Angela waited patiently in the study while Sam prepared refreshments for the three of them. He entered carefully, carrying a tray with both coffee and tea, as well as an assortment of pastries and other snacks. The extreme care with which he handled the delicate china cups were in direct contrast to the rest of the man, which brought to mind visions of Greek statues and bodybuilders. Angela noted to herself absently that she would have probably tried to pick him up, had he walked into her bar back in Detroit. He really was that attractive.

"Here you go, ladies." Sam said, handing out cups. "Coffee for you, Angela. Cream and sugar are here, if you want them. Ororo, I believe you had a fondness for raspberry tea."

"You remember that?" She gasped, then laughed at herself. "Oh, how could I forget? I'm sorry."

"Forget what?" Angela asked, adding a mere teaspoon of sugar to her coffee.

"I have an eidetic memory." He replied, picking up his own tea. "Once I see or hear something, I never forget it. Made passing all my classes a breeze. They had to seat me far away from everyone to prevent cheating during tests."

The three laugh a bit at that, then settle in for the business at hand. Setting her cup down, Storm cleared her throat and looked at Sam. "I hate to bust in on you like this, but I have a favor to ask you."

"Ororo, I left the X-Men for a reason. I wasn't cut out for that kind of life."

She raised her hand to stop him. "Please, hear me out. I'm not asking you to rejoin the team. But I do need you at the school." With that, she launched into an overview of the past year, starting with Liberty Island and ending with the meeting that brought them to Washington State. Sam took it all in calmly, asking for clarification on certain points, but mostly just listening.

When she finished, he carefully set his cup down on the tray, leaned back in his chair and folded his hands. "Why do you need me to come back to the school? Can't you send Scott on sabbatical, have him come out here?"

"I wish we could, Sam. But we can't afford to lose another teacher this far into the term. As it stands, we're still short on staff but we're making it work." She leaned forward and placed her slender hand over his. "I know I'm asking a great deal of you here, but Scott needs a friend he can trust completely right now. He won't come to me or Charles, but he would go to you I just know it."

Sam closed his eyes, deep in thought for a moment before turning his gaze to Angela. "So, my dear, how do you figure into all of this?"

She shifted slightly in her chair, clearly uneasy with the situation. "Well, it's complicated really. What it boils down to is me being tired of trying to explain things to him that I really don't know anything about. I never knew Jean, I just know what she meant to the people around me. I have no idea why she chose to do what she did. If she was that powerful, she should have been able to do the same thing on board the jet."

"But surely Ororo here could help…"

Angela cut him off. "Yeah, I understand that Jean and Storm were best friends. But from what she told me on the way out here, you, Scott and Jean were pretty much inseparable during your school days. Maybe you have a perspective that she can't give him."

Sam sighed, knowing when he was defeated. "Well ladies, I can't leave tonight. I have a piece in the annealing oven and it won't be ready for several hours. Might I suggest you stay over for the night?"

"Sure Sam that would be fine." Storm replied, smiling.

"Excellent!" He turned back to Angela. "And I'm certain that your story will make for fascinating conversation to pass the evening."

The three passed an enjoyable evening together, dining on a fine Beef Wellington served with red wine and a chocolate-raspberry torte for dessert. Storm and Sam listened with rapt attention as Angela regaled them with stories from her long and interesting life, starting with a near miss in New York during Prohibition to some of the more gruesome aspects of her life at Alkali Lake. Sam's face didn't show anything, but inwardly he was beginning to feel a twinge of guilt for his self-imposed exile from the world. He'd always thought he was more of a hindrance to the cause, since his control over his mutation was hard for him to give up. But he'd never imagined that things had gotten to the point where mutants were being used as lab rats for the twisted purposes of madmen.

After dinner, Ororo excused herself, pleading exhaustion and retiring to the guest room that Sam had prepared for his visitors. After helping him to clean up the dinner dishes, Angela mentioned the excellent collection of whiskies that she'd seen in the study and the two of them opened a bottle and continued their conversation. Several hours and several bottles later, Sam had made up his mind.

The next morning, he made arrangements with a friend in the nearest town to collect his mail and keep his house in order for at least the next few weeks. He would call as soon as he knew when he'd be returning, but part of him wondered if he'd ever see his cabin in the woods again. There was more to this situation than met the eye, that was for certain. Finally, after retrieving his latest glasswork from the annealing oven and shutting it down, he locked up his workshop and they boarded the jet late in the afternoon. A few hours later, they arrived at the mansion and Sam felt an unexpected twinge of nostalgia. Sometimes, it's good to come home.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 14.

(Angela)

As soon as the ramp hit the deck, I was out of the plane and running into Logan's arms. He held me close and I just enjoyed the solid feeling of his body next to mine. I know I wanted to drag him off and have my wicked way with him, but introductions needed to be made and I was starving after the long day we'd had.

Sam and Storm came off the jet together, laughing. I could see there was an easiness between the two of them that she didn't share with anyone else that I'd seen. I smiled to myself and wondered how long it would be before the wooing began. I pulled away from Logan long enough to give him a brief kiss before turning to the others. "Sam, I want you to meet Logan." Sam held out a hand and Logan gave a brief scowl before shaking it. "Logan, this is Sam Levison, a.k.a. Atlas."

"Atlas huh?" He asked, eyeing Sam. "So I guess that means you've got the super strength thing like Colossus?"

"Among other things, yes." Sam replied but didn't offer any more info. I found that odd, really. Most mutants aren't afraid to discuss their powers with other mutants, but Sam was strangely closemouthed about the whole thing. It made me wonder if he was ashamed of something and just didn't want to talk about it. I resolved to draw the whole story out of him sooner or later.

I just smiled for the moment. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm famished!" I wrapped my arm around Logan's waist. "Would you like to take a girl to dinner?" I whispered.

"Mmm, if I have to." He replied, slinging his arm around my shoulders and lightly running his thumb down my neck, causing me to shiver. "But let's not stay too long, ok?"

"You got it, lover." I smiled and waved at Sam and Storm, who were still doing post-flight routines with the jet. We made our way to the dining room and a table of the older girls (and a couple boys) broke into helpless giggles when we entered. Logan scowled at them hard, especially Jubilee and I was instantly curious. We went up to the staff table and I leaned over to give Charles a quick kiss on the cheek before taking my seat. Kurt waved at me and Buzz just nodded in greeting. It was good to be home.

After dishing up chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans and grabbing a glass of soda, I turned to Logan. "So, what's up with your fan club over there?" I asked before digging in.

He groaned and scowled at the table again, which only made them giggle harder. "Don't ask."

I heard Kurt give a brief snort of laughter on my other side and turned to him. "Is there something I should know?"

Logan glared at him over my head, but it didn't stop him from recounting the tale of the previous two days. By the end of it, I was howling with laughter and Logan looked fit to kill me. I squeezed his leg under the table. "Oh, calm down lover. I think it's cute."

"I am not cute." He growled, stabbing at his chicken like it mortally offended him. "And they're not cute, either."

"Bah, they're kids. They'll grow out of it." It didn't placate him at all and he spent the rest of the meal alternately scowling at the table and muttering curses under his breath. Deep down, I had to agree with Jubilee. My man really is Wolvelicious. It was the perfect way to describe him, as far as I was concerned.

Charles wanted to meet with me, Storm and Sam in his office, but I begged off pleading exhaustion from having to deal with flying while sober, a tiring experience indeed. He simply chuckled, saying he understood, but the twinkle in his eye betrayed him. As Logan and I left the dining room, he sent me a telepathic message reminding me to not think so loudly. I'm sure I blushed roughly the same color as the streaks in my hair and made a very hasty retreat.

We didn't precisely run to our room, but I would have felt very sorry for anyone who might have gotten in our way. The door was barely closed and locked behind us before our clothes were flying and we said hello to one another in a proper fashion. Hours later, as I lay there cradled in his arms, my head on his shoulder, I once again thought how good it was to be home.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Storm, Sam and I met with Charles over breakfast the next day. The Professor was genuinely happy to see Sam again and I could tell the feeling was mutual. Somehow, they had kept his return to the mansion a secret from Scott, no mean feat in a house full of teenagers. Storm was inclined to give Scott a variation of the truth to Sam's return, but I was vehemently against it. I thought he deserved the complete truth. He had a problem and Sam might be the only solution. After a bit of debate, it was finally agreed that I was right, as usual. I don't know why they even bother to argue with me. I'm always right. Maybe it's another mutation.

At any rate, Charles called Scott down to the office, which was my cue to leave. It was Saturday, so I didn't have any regular classes, just a Danger Room session with Beta team. Buzz had programmed yet another brilliant scenario involving a combination of mutants, military personnel and civilians. Beta tore through it like old pros and my pride in how far they'd come was impossible to contain. At the rate they were progressing, we'd be able to lift our restrictions on their involvement with the team as a whole and the Alpha team would more than double in size.

I also had another session with a group of the younger teens, namely Jesse Aaronson, Julian Keller, Jamie Madrox and Davey Bowman. Jesse (who already had the code name "Bedlam") had gone with me on the mission to retrieve Logan and now all he wanted was to be an X-Man. I'm pretty sure Scott is still pissed off that I took him with me that night, since he was only fifteen at the time, but he'd since had a birthday and I saw no reason not to include him on the new Delta team. It was my ultimate goal to have four complete teams of X-Men at all times, each with their own individual leader for smaller missions, but able to work with any or all of the other teams in part or in whole. In the event that all teams would be together, Scott would act as overall commander, but to make sure the team leaders had enough authority to act on a moment's notice if need be. Of course, looking to the distant future, I wanted there to be as many X-Men as I could get out of this school. I wanted to build an army.

But that was in the future. Right now, I had my hands full with the four boys in front of me. Once I'd gotten it through Julian's head that he would never be an X-Man at the rate he was going (by methodically beating him over the head with a clue by four), he turned himself around and once again found himself at the top of the class. It turns out that his previous slacking had been caused by his belief that he was the teacher's (my) pet and that I'd let him get away with anything. Many bruises later, he learned that I don't play that game. This was the first time they were being put through an X-Man training scenario and they were a little rowdy. It was also the first time they were in X-Men uniforms for a Danger Room session, so they were preening and strutting about, like peacocks. At least they had the sense to calm down once I walked in.

"Hey Miss Rex." Jamie greeted me with a smile. "How do we look?"

"Like a bunch of kids playing dress up." I replied dryly and their faces fell. "It's true. Those uniforms are something you have to earn. You only get to wear them in here because you need to get used to them. And you won't earn them until Logan and I say you have."

"But Angela, I've already been on one mission!" Jesse complained loudly. "So why are you making me start all over?"

"Because the Professor makes the rules around here." I said evenly. "And he says that no one can be a part of any of the teams until they're at least seventeen. You have a little under a year until that happens." I folded my arms over my chest and paced in front of them. "But keep in mind those rules are only for field missions. If you do well over the next couple of months, you'll be assigned to the mansion as its first line of defense in case of another attack."

"What are the chances of that happening?"

"I don't know, but that's not the point. I'm sure everyone here would feel much better knowing there are well-trained people looking over them even if there's never another attack. But I get paid to plan for the worst." With that, I went over to the console near the door and entered the commands to pull up the mansion invasion scenario, which has become my stock scenario for the early training of the teams. It gives the kids the advantage of a battleground they know well, but that's really the only one. The scenario is programmed with the same number of soldiers, the same number and variety of students, so the team has to make sure all the students get to safety while disabling the soldiers as efficiently as possible. I waved the kids over to stand next to me and I started the program.

I was there purely in an observatory capacity. I'd told the scenario to ignore my presence so none of the virtual opponents would engage me. I needed to evaluate the boys and I felt better doing it down here instead of up in the observation booth. Logan was up there, monitoring everything and making sure that each boy was being recorded individually. We wanted to be able to go back over all the logs and see where each of them needed more work. As soon as we could identify their weaknesses, we'd be able to individualize their training and get them ready much faster.

Bedlam did the best out the bunch, but he was also the only one with any combat experience. He knew exactly how to use his power to disrupt the nervous systems of the assailants, leaving them twitching on the floor and subduing them with well-placed kicks to the face once they were down. I was just thankful that Buzz had figured out a way to insulate the Danger Room so he didn't short it out every time we had a training session in there. It made things much easier for all of us.

Julian (who chose the code name "Hellion") also did very well. Using his telekinesis, he threw soldiers into walls or each other, knocking them out. On one occasion, he threw the pool table at a group of them and on another occasion he trapped them behind a telekinetic shield and Bedlam did the rest. The shields also came in handy to protect small groups of "students", helping them get to the escape tunnels. It blocked the stun dart ok, but bullets still managed to get through. Thankfully they all missed him, but it was something he would need to try and improve.

Jamie (who went by "Multiple Man") was a joy to watch. We are still not sure if he has a maximum number of copies he can create, so he could literally become a one-man army. Since all of his copies knew the same things he did (or could learn things and bring the knowledge back to him when they were reabsorbed), the possibilities for him were endless. I was confident that he'd make a very valuable addition to the team as soon as he was old enough.

Davey (who was now calling himself "Inferno") could have done better. Unlike Pyro before him, he could create the fire as well as control it. His control was perfect yet, but he was capable of much finer control than Pyro ever had been (according to Storm and Scott). So his trick was to make the ammo in their guns explode, causing much damage to the person holding the weapon. So, what he lacked in huge pyrotechnics, he made up for in quality of work. Still, he needed to learn to control the fire on a larger scale.

At the end of the scenario, they'd managed to subdue more than ninety percent of the assailants and only three students had been stunned. However, due to their quick assistance, every student made it out of the mansion. It was the first time anyone had done so well their first time in. As the walls faded back to polished steel, the boys collapsed in a heap on the floor, breathing heavily. Jamie had gotten a black eye from an elbow to the face and Bedlam had taken a pretty good hit to the back of his head but seemed fine otherwise. I ordered the two of them to the infirmary and the others to the showers. Logan came down to join me after they left.

"The kids did damn good, darlin'." He said, wrapping his arms around me. "You should be proud."

"You mean we should be proud." I countered, hugging him back. "You're their teacher to, you know."

"Yeah, but you're the one who whipped them into shape. I wasn't sure about lettin' you take on the class like you did, but it looks like gettin' beat up by a girl worked."

"They're boys, of course it worked! I mean, how much more humiliating could that be? Even knowing I'm assassin trained, their eyes still see a tiny woman who couldn't possibly take them out. It's the one thing that humans and mutants definitely have in common, letting their eyes fool them."

"Don't remind me." He replied and I knew he was thinking of not only the conversations between Scott and I that he'd misinterpreted, but also the incident with Mystique in a tent just before Jean's death. "You'd think we'd learn sooner or later."

"Yeah well, you have a thicker than normal skull and that's without the adamantium."

He growled playfully. "I keep tellin' you, you're not funny."

"Yes I am." It was an exchange we had often and we never seemed to tire of it. "You just don't appreciate my brand of humor."

"Gimme the Stooges any day, darlin'. At least they don't make jokes at my expense."

"It's not my fault you make it so damn easy." He growled again and I just gave him my most dazzling smile. He glared at me for a second, but softened enough to kiss my cheek. I leaned into him and sighed. "Much as I hate to cut this short, we still have work to do."

"Yeah I know. There's times I wonder why I let Chuck talk me into teachin' here. It's like work or somethin'."

I laughed and gave him a squeeze. "Or something. Come on, let's look over those tapes and see what these boys need to work on."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later, I ran into Scott and Sam out on the patio. They were sitting at a small table with glasses of iced tea, reminiscing about their days together at the school. I had just come out for a smoke when I caught their laughter and I walked over to them.

Scott had his back to me, but Sam saw me approaching and smiled in greeting. "Angela! Why don't you join us?" He asked, standing up and pulling out a chair for me.

"Don't mind if I do." I replied, taking my seat. I lit my cigarette and Scott scowled at me. "Sorry Scott, but if I don't do this, I'll have to kill someone."

His scowl deepened. "I hope you don't mean that literally."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course not, silly. But it's the only vice I have left that I can do in public. Around here, at least." He blushed and looked away, mumbling under his breath about incorrigible feral mutants and I giggled.

"So, Angela. Scott tells me you teach tactics and strategy here?" Sam asked, sipping his tea.

"Yep, along with defensive and offensive fighting techniques. Logan teaches too."

"Ah yes, your old partner. I'm quite anxious to get to know him, he seems a most interesting fellow."

"To say the least." I replied dryly, taking a drag from my cigarette. "Don't be put off by his surly exterior. He's really a nice guy underneath it all." Scott mumbled under his breath again about chronic assholism being his secondary mutation and I giggled again. "Scott, stop that. You're just jealous because you always have to be the nice guy."

"Me? Jealous of Logan?" His mouth gaped and he looked so comical I giggled yet again. "What could I possibly be jealous of him for?"

"Uhh, cuz he has snappier comebacks than you do?" I ventured with a half-smile.

Sam laughed out loud. "She's got you there, Scott. You never were very clever when it came to verbal sparring."

"Great, first she's got to dig at me and now you? What's next, pouring sugar in my gas tank while over starching my underwear?"

Sam and I sat there with mouths agape before bursting into hysterical laughter. It took several moments to compose ourselves enough to continue the conversation. "What do you mean, 'over starching'?" I asked, still chuckling a little. "Do you starch them to begin with?"

"It would explain quite a few things, actually." Sam added. "He always was a little…stiff in his manner." This set us off into new gales of laughter, which were only exacerbated by the scowls Scott kept shooting at us. We did finally manage to pull ourselves together again, but I had to refrain from looking at either of them for fear of breaking down again. Sam took a long drink from his tea and wiped his eyes with his napkin. "I'm sorry, my friend. But it's been so long since I've been here. You didn't expect me to change that much, did you?"

Scott sighed and chuckled a little, finally. "No, Sam, I didn't." He said, shaking his head a little. "But I didn't expect you to jump back in so soon."

"I didn't realize I'd have anyone to play off of." He raised his glass to me. "But I see that I do."

I inclined my head to him and stubbed my cigarette out on the pavement, field stripping the butt so I could toss it in the trash. "Sam, I have a feeling that you and I are going to get along most famously."

"As do I, my dear." He finished his tea and leaned back in his chair. "But for now, I still have some catching up to do with Scott here."

"Oh, it's fine. I have to work out some lesson plans anyway." I stood up and he stood with me, the consummate gentleman. I smiled at him and went back inside.

Logan was just coming down the stairs as I closed the door behind me. I was still prone to random giggles and he crossed over to me, a curious look on his face. "What's up darlin'? Did I miss somethin'?"

"Did you EVER!" I said and recounted the conversation for him. He stood there for a moment before bursting into laughter of his own, which startled a few kids walking by at that moment. Almost none of them had ever seen him laugh like this before and it was a rare treat for them. Of course, this set me off again as well and it took several minutes for us to compose ourselves. As soon as we had, we went to the lounge to rest.

"I think I'm gonna like this guy. Sounds like someone I could get along with." Logan said, flopping down on the couch.

"Oh yeah, I think that's a foregone conclusion." I replied, sitting next to him and snuggling close. "In fact, he's kind of a beer snob. Might be a worse one than me and that's saying something."

"Really? How much worse?"

"Well, when Storm and I were at his cabin, he showed me his collection. And I do mean 'collection'. Hundreds of individual bottles, most of them European microbrews. Kind of makes me want to open another bar just so I can import them cheaper."

"Hm. Might have to see if he wants to go out for drinks sometime." I just nodded and we sat there for about half an hour before the clock chimed, signaling the dinner hour. We sat there for a few more minutes before making our way to the dining room.

As usual, the kids were all a little rambunctious, especially since Sam was there, another new adult face for them to be curious about. However, Charles wasn't about to let them badger him the way they'd tormented me when I first arrived. As soon as everyone was seated, he cleared his throat and sent a mental "settle down" to everyone. "Students, I would like to introduce you all to Samuel Levison, a former student here. He will be staying with us for a while. Please welcome him and try not to accost him every five minutes." There was a brief smattering of applause, then we all settled in to the meal. Sam sat at the opposite end of the table next to Scott and Storm, which left me and Logan sitting with Kurt. He had recently begun helping some of the kids with controlling their powers and we wanted his input on the four we'd tested earlier that day. He made a few suggestions, but I finally just asked him to assist us directly with the Danger Room sessions, so he could give them immediate assistance if they needed it. Thankfully, he agreed, since it didn't conflict with the foreign language classes he was already teaching.

After dinner, the adults retired to the patio (so Logan and I could smoke) and Sam produced a bottle of the most excellent brandy I'd ever tasted, pouring it into hand-blown snifters I would bet he made himself. We talked about the state of mutant affairs and the steady decline of support for the Mutant Registration Act. As the evening wore on, we slipped into less volatile topics like music and art, which was when I found out that Sam wasn't just a glassblower, but also painted in acrylics and did some sculpting as well. That was also when it dawned on me who he was.

"Holy crap!" I exclaimed, interrupting him in the middle of a story about a gallery show he'd done a few months ago. "I know you!"

"Um, yes you do. You picked me up, remember?" He made as though to take my snifter away from me. "Perhaps we should cut you off, my dear. It seems the drink has muddled your head."

I gave him a mock scowl and swiped at his hand. "No, not that! I mean, I know who you are. I used to have some of your pieces."

"What do you mean by 'used to'? Did you sell them?"

"No, I didn't. I had to leave them behind when Logan and I escaped from Detroit." I took another sip of the brandy, savoring the flavor. "Next to my bars and my GTO, they were the hardest things to leave behind."

Logan just looked confused. "Now I know I'm missin' somethin' here. Who is this guy, really?"

"Sweetie, he's a world famous artist. Do you remember my collection of jade Buddhas? He did those."

"Whoa, really?" He looked Sam up and down. "Those were some nice work. It was a shame to leave them back there."

"Yeah, but I'm sure Ricky's taking good care of them." I swirled the last of my brandy in the glass, looking down. "Gods, I miss Detroit." I tossed it back and set my glass down on the tray. "Sorry about that. Just a little homesick, I suppose."

Storm smiled at me. "It's ok, Angela. It happens to all of us, even if this has been our home for more years than we bother to count."

I managed a weak smile in return, then took a deep breath. "I'll be fine. I think I'm gonna call it a night." I took Logan's hand and we bid everyone a good night. We walked casually back to our room, pausing only to check with the security office and make sure the kids were all in their beds. Once in our room, I stripped down to my tank top and panties before snuggling into Logan's arms.

"So, what's that guy's mutation supposed to be anyway?" He asked, stroking my hair.

"Super strong, from what I understand. Enhanced endurance and a heightened metabolism, too." I propped myself up on my elbow. "From what I hear, he can out drink anyone."

"Really? Now I know I'm takin' him out for beers sometime." He rolled over and pulled me close. "But I ain't seen anythin' from him to show he's super strong or nothin' even close to it."

I shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't asked."

"Well, I'll have to see if he'll give me some dance time in the Danger Room." I nodded and he kissed me, starting off gently enough but it increased in magnitude after only a few seconds. His hands felt hot against my skin as he slid them up the back of my tank top, breaking the kiss only long enough to peel it over my head. He leaned back and let his eyes wander over me. "God, you are so beautiful." He said breathlessly. "How did I ever get this lucky?"

"I think it's the other way around, lover. I'm the lucky one." He moved back in to kiss me again, his eyes intense. After a little while, I completely forgot how homesick I was.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** Things are looking a little better, yes? Keep reading and find out!


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** You know the drill and who is and isn't mine...if it's not mine, it's owned by Fox and Marvel...if it is mine, hands off...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 15

(Logan)

There were several notable events during the next three weeks. First, Chasca (with the help of Charles and her roommate) had learned enough English to be able to converse with everyone. Naturally, this turned her into a regular girl and she could be found chattering away with the other older students at any time they weren't in classes. We also discovered she was older than we first thought. I hadn't thought to ask her and she seemed a little afraid of me, so when she told us she was twenty-two, we were a little shocked. With her athletic build and spiky hair, we thought she was no older than sixteen. We also managed to draw her entire story out of her.

Her mother and father had been afraid that she was different even when she was very young, due to her eyes, which are the exact color of a deep, flawless amethyst crystal. This was confirmed when, at the age of thirteen, she woke up with her elongated fingers, claws on her hands and feet and the beginnings of her bat wings sprouting from her back. They at first tried to have her exorcised of the demons that had possessed her, but when everything from Roman Catholic to ancient Incan rituals didn't work, they tried to kill her. Fortunately, she was able to use another aspect of her mutation to get away, since she also had echolocation, just like a bat. The sound was just enough to stun her attackers and she got away. She'd been living wild in the jungle ever since, stealing food and clothing from small villages and the occasional logging camp that she came across. Stumbling into the cocaine plantation had been bad luck on her part and only Chuck's chancing upon her with Cerebro coupled with Storm's quick thinking had gotten her out of there alive.

She was a little disappointed that she'd have to go to school with the children, but she was severely lacking in the formal education department and Chuck insisted she study. However, what she really wanted was to train as an X-Man. She'd been overwhelmed by the way Storm and One-Eye had helped her, a complete stranger, and she wanted to give that back in some way. I had no problem with it and the Boy Scout actually agreed. It wasn't often that adult mutants showed up on our doorstep and having someone else we could count on in a fight, especially one who could fly, was good news for all of us. And now that she had enough English to understand Angela and I while we were teaching, we could include her with other groups for Danger Room training. We put her on the schedule with the new Delta team.

The second noteworthy event involved Totem. I'd been outside with Chasca, watching as she demonstrated her flying ability. She was really quite amazing, even if she did almost give me a heart attack several times by folding her wings in and diving towards the ground so fast I was afraid she'd crash. But she always managed to snap her wings open just in time, turning her dive into a rush back up into the air, sometimes adding a corkscrew spin to the return trip up. I was mentally plotting out an obstacle course for her to fly, something with targets for her to hit and threats to dodge or take out if she could, when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I glanced over and saw Totem standing in the shadow of a pine tree, barely perceptible in his shifted form, which gave him the head and black fur of a panther, though the rest of him appeared humanoid. What had betrayed his presence was his tail, switching back and forth restlessly as he also watched Chasca at her exercise. I motioned for her to come back to earth.

"Is everything good, Logan?" She asked.

"Yeah, you're fine. I just have to take care of somethin'." I replied. "Why don't you go find Sofia and have her help you with some of your homework?"

"All right. We will continue later?"

"Sure kid. Now go on." She smiled and ran into the mansion. I was glad she was fitting in so well. Once she was gone, I stalked over to the tree. "Ok bub, come on out."

He came forward slowly, shifting to his full human form as he did. "What do you want, Logan?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I wanna know what you found so interestin' out here."

He swallowed hard and looked away from me. "Nothing. I was just walking."

"Sure you were." I replied, gritting my teeth. "Now, I don't know what you think you know about me, but I'm bettin' that Stryker never told you everythin' about my mutation." I tapped the side of my nose. "See, this never lies to me, even when someone else is. And lies all smell the same to me. So why don't you try again?"

His eyes widened in shock. "You can smell lies?"

"Among other things. Now, what you doin' out here?"

"I was curious about that girl you were out here with."

"Why?" I asked, full of suspicion.

"She is very interesting. Can I not watch and learn while I am here like everyone else?"

"Did you forget the part where you can't be trusted? Or the part where you're still Stryker's trained lapdog? Do you really need me to go on?"

He hung his head. "No, I have not forgotten those things." He mumbled. "But there is something about that girl. She interests me in a way I do not understand."

I stood there in shock. My nose was picking up something I'd never smelled on him before, not even when Angela was around. Everything he felt for my woman was manufactured, put there by telepaths and conditioning. But when he talked about Chasca, there was a distinct undertone of attraction to his scent. Well, I had promised I would help him lose the controls Stryker'd had put on him. No better time than the present. "Tell me somethin', Totem. When you think of Chasca, what do you feel? Not in your head, in your gut."

He stood there thinking for a moment, one hand nervously picking at the front of his shirt. "She makes me feel light inside, like something is floating away."

"Ok. So, what about when you think of Angela? What does your gut do then?"

He thought again for a long moment, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Nothing. I feel no different when I think of her, except that I love her."

I couldn't help but grin. "Bub, you just made your first step to bein' your own man."

"I do not understand."

I stepped forward and crossed my arms over my chest. "When you really love someone, it's not somethin' that you feel in your head. Sure, you know it, but it ain't your head that tells you. It's your gut. You look at Chasca and your gut tells you somethin'. You look at Angela and it tells you nothin'. Think about that for a while."

I turned and went back into the mansion, hoping Chuck was between classes. I got there just as one was leaving and slipped in before the next batch of kids could show up. "Hey, you got a minute?"

"Of course, Logan." He replied, coming around his desk. "Please, have a seat."

I settled into a chair. "We have to talk about Totem."

"He hasn't been harassing Angela again, has he?"

"No, not that I've heard." I leaned forward. "Chuck, I think he's got a crush on Chasca."

"Is that so?" He sat up straighter in his chair. "Well, isn't that interesting?"

"My thought exactly. I think we might have found the secret to gettin' Angela out of his head."

"You could be right. I have made little progress in our sessions. The telepaths that worked on him put in some very difficult blocks. I haven't been able to do more than circumvent them. Perhaps with an emotional attachment to someone else will work much better than simple telepathy alone."

"I want permission to put him on the schedule with Delta team. Angela can man the observation booth and I'll take over the supervision in the room. If we can get them into some kinda workin' relationship, the blocks might start to break down on their own."

"Agreed. Very well, put him on the team and I'll inform Angela before the session tomorrow." He smiled. "You know Logan, that may be why your own telepathic blocks broke down all those years ago at Alkali Lake."

"You think Angela was the key?"

He looked at me with a very serious expression. "I think she still is the key."

Before I could ask him to explain, his next class started filing into his office. I stood up and made way for them, shooting a "see you later" to him mentally, knowing he'd hear me. He sent back that we'd talk later and I left.

The next important thing happened about a week later, when Buzz left me a note to see him in the computer center. I made my way downstairs and found him sitting in front of an impressive array of equipment, some of which I'd never seen before. I knew Chuck had given him a more or less blank check to set up whatever he needed, but even this looked a little overboard to me. Then again, what do I know? Sure, I'm well trained with computers, I had to be back at Alkali Lake. A lot of what we did required us to bypass all kinds of systems and I hadn't really lost my edge when it came to that. But it doesn't mean I really like them.

He turned as I entered the room and grinned. "Hey Logan. I just finished decrypting one of those drives. Had to call in a couple favors, but I finally got through it."

I pulled up a chair and sat next to him. "Whatcha got, kid?"

He typed in a series of commands, then chose a file from a list called "Weapon X" and opened it. "I remember seeing this in your file and I did a little more digging. I figured that you and Angela couldn't have been the only candidates for that project and I wasn't wrong. Check this out."

He clicked on another heading, this one labeled "Subjects" and a list came up.

**_Weapon X Subjects and current status:_**

_**Coyote **(458-25-225) **– **Deceased_

_**Raptor** (458-25-227) – MIA, presumed dead._

_**Hellcat** (458-25-228) – AWOL, failure. No sighting since 11 June 99. Presumed dead._

_**Vulture **(458-25-230) – Active. Current assignment: Beijing._

_**Tigress **(458-25-233) – Active. Current assignment: Middle East_

_**Ursa** (458-25-234) – Deceased._

_**Silver Fox **(458-25-237) - Deceased_

_**Sabretooth** (458-25-239) – AWOL, failure. Do not attempt recapture._

_**Demon **(458-25-240) – Active. Current assignment: Beijing._

_**Wolverine** (458-25-243) – AWOL, failure. Recapture for Project Prodigal._

_**Totem **(458-25-244) – Active. Current assignment: None. Training not yet complete._

_**Maverick** (458-25-246) – MIA, presumed dead._

_**Kestrel **(458-25-450) – MIA, presumed dead._

_**Mastodon **(458-25-453) – Deceased._

_**Deathstrike **(458-25-454) – MIA, presumed dead._

_**Asp** (458-25-458) – Active. Current assignment: Middle East_

A chill settled over me as I went over the list. I'm sure even Angela had no idea that Stryker had this many mutants in the same "program" we'd been in. What bothered me the most was seeing Sabretooth's name on the list. Did this mean he had the same enhancements to his skeleton? And the healing factor? I hated that guy enough already. Knowing he was probably still alive after Liberty Island just pissed me off even more.

But what had me the most worried were the four agents still active. It was only a matter of time before we encountered them and I wasn't holding out too much hope that they would be willing to defect to our side. I blinked as Buzz backed out of the list and into another file that detailed the bonding procedure and listed everyone who had been through it, with certain specifics for each person. It confirmed my suspicion about Sabretooth, which just made me want to hunt the guy down and kick his ass once and for all. Of course, it would take a very long time before either one of us died, but that would only make it more fun.

Buzz backed up again and opened yet another file, this one with pictures of each of the people on the list. The only ones I recognized besides my own were Sabretooth, Angela, Totem and Deathstrike, who turned out to be the woman I killed at Alkali Lake. I asked him to call up her file and I was sickened to learn that she'd definitely been under some hefty mind control at the time. I wondered what her life had been like before she ran afoul of Stryker, but I knew that finding out about her past would probably be just as difficult as discovering my own. For the first time since it happened, I felt serious remorse about killing her.

A couple hours later, we'd been through the entire Weapon X archive and I sat back, my head spinning. I thanked Buzz and went out in search of my woman and a smoke. I found her outside talking with Sam. I walked over and wrapped my arms around her, breathing in her soothing scent. I normally save my most affectionate displays for more private surroundings, but I really needed her at that moment.

She sensed something was wrong. "Logan, are you all right?" She asked, nuzzling my neck.

"Yeah darlin', I'll be fine." I whispered. "If you get a chance, go see Buzz. He's got somethin' you should see."

"All right." She pulled back a bit and kissed me. I held her for a moment longer before relaxing enough to look at her. "Is it bad?"

"It ain't good, that's for sure." I kissed her forehead, then let go and dug a cigar out of my pocket.

"My friend, if there's anything I can do." Sam piped in, looking concerned.

"Nah, I'll be fine. Just keep an eye on Angela for me for a little longer? I need to think."

"No problem, we'll be right here."

I walked back to the stream, chewing on my cigar and thinking hard about how to deal with this new information. It clarified quite a few things for me and I could feel some of my more vague memories coming into sharper focus. They still weren't clear enough for me to call up on my own, but I had a feeling that my nightmare-free nights were over for some time. I cursed softly, wishing I could just get it all back once and for all, but something told me I would regret that more than this gradual return. I still had a very bad feeling that there was something really terrible back there that I really wanted to keep forgotten and digging it up would only make things much worse for me.

I don't know how long I stayed out there, but soft footfalls behind me alerted me that I was no longer alone. A quick check of the breeze brought Angela's scent to me and I turned to her with a half smile. "Hey darlin'. Where's Sam?"

"Oh, he walked me as far as my tree. I figured I could make the last fifty feet on my own safely enough." She wrapped her arms around me, resting her cheek against my chest with a sigh. "Lover, are you really ok?"

"As ok as I'm gonna get." I tossed my cigar butt in the dirt and ground it out with my heel. "Did you talk to Buzz yet?"

"Yeah, he's deep in the middle of hacking some mainframe and told me to come back tomorrow. Any idea what he's looking for?"

"Yeah. He's lookin' for me." I didn't need to say anything else, she knew what I was talking about. Her arms tightened around me and I leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "Damn it, I hate this! The more I find out, the less I wanna know. I keep feelin' like there's no point to it."

"All knowledge is worth having, Logan, I truly believe that. And I'll be here to help you deal with whatever it is we discover, all right?"

"Yeah, I know. I just wish it wasn't takin' so long."

"I know, lover."

We stood there a while longer before going back into the mansion. I was at least lucky enough that no new nightmares came out that night, although I did have vague memories of dreaming something unpleasant. None of the images had been strong enough to remember, but the old nightmare had started out that way so I knew it was only a matter of time. And God only knows I have more than enough of that.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The last and most interesting occurrence came in two parts. The first part was finally convincing Sam to meet me in the Danger Room.

He'd been here almost three weeks and I'd tried everything I could think of to get him to spar with me. He always had some plausible excuse, usually involving a talk with Scott or having to get back to some random art project, but after a while I decided he was just dodging me. I finally came up with a reason why he couldn't turn me down.

"Look Sam, I need someone in there with super strength to test this new scenario and Colossus is in a history exam right now." I said, arms crossed. I was not going to let him get away from it this time.

"Logan, I'm sorry but I can't help you." He replied, clutching his sketchbook. "Those particular roses only bloom for about another two days and if I don't catch them now I'm going to miss them."

"We ain't gonna be in there for two hours, much less two days. And Buzz told me we needed someone in there with the strength thing specifically." Sam didn't need to know I made sure Buzz programmed that last bit in there on purpose.

He sighed. "And why would that be?"

"Hell if I know, he didn't give me specifics. Just somethin' about a lot of heavy debris."

His shoulders slumped and he glared at me. "Fine, I'll meet you there in ten minutes." He said through gritted teeth and walked away. I just smiled and made my way downstairs.

Yeah, there was heavy debris in the scenario. It was also based on the old "Evil Wolverine and Hellcat" scenario, which meant he'd be fighting me. I got suited up while Buzz checked the parameters from the observation booth. Once he got them the way he wanted them, I had him do a preliminary check with me inside. Since Angela and I had extensive training with explosives (among other things), this scenario started with us blowing the hell out of a building in a large city, trapping civilians under tons of debris while we tried to keep anyone from going in and saving them. At the time, we still couldn't come up with anything that would be more difficult for the X-Men than having to fight two of their own, especially if those two were me and Angela. I had Buzz make a few minor alterations to the setting (adding darkness and bad weather), then power down until Sam arrived.

Exactly ten minutes after I talked him into it, he entered the Danger Room. He was wearing the standard issue X-Man uniform, one I'd never seen before. I assumed it was from his brief stint on the team before he left to become a reclusive artist. The door closed behind him and the red "in use" light went on over it. He made his way to where I stood in the middle of the room and glared at me. "I just want you to know that I am not happy about being suckered into this."

"Hey, I'm sorry, but Angela and I test every scenario before it goes on line for everyone to use." I explained, glaring right back at him.

"Fine, whatever. But I have to warn you, I don't like to use my mutation. It's taken me years to find a way to control it and I don't give it up easily."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You mean no one told you?"

"Told me what?"

He took a step back and his shoulders slumped. "About me, why I quit the X-Men." I shook my head and he sighed. "Yeah, I have super strength all right. In fact, I don't know my own strength. I can't control it, not like Colossus does."

"He's only super strong in metal form. In regular form, he's pretty strong but he couldn't bench press a Buick or anythin'."

"You don't get it. I can't turn it off. In fact, I have to make a conscious effort with everything I do. If I stop paying attention, I'll break anything I try to pick up. So, in essence, I had to habituate myself to be extremely gentle at all times. It's why I started working with glass, so I would be forced to be careful or else ruin my own artwork."

Well, wasn't that interesting? "So why did you quit the team? Seems to me you've got a pretty good handle on it."

"Several reasons, but mostly because I was always holding back. I don't want to hurt anyone for any reason. I'm so used to holding back that I have a hard time letting the control I have go. I felt useless to the team, so I left."

"Well bub, don't worry about it. I'm totally unbreakable. And I'll need you at full strength to test this thing right, got it?"

He backed off a little, hands out in front of him. "Look, I think you need to wait for Colossus then. I can't let go, I don't want to hurt you."

"I already told you, it ain't gonna happen. I have adamantium all over my skeleton. I heal from anything. You couldn't hurt me permanently if you tried."

Just then, Buzz's voice came through the speakers. "Ok guys, here's the scenario. Sam, your physical enemy is Logan. This is based on him getting recaptured and brainwashed again. Your other challenge is…well, you'll see. Program starts in fifteen seconds."

I gave him an ironic grin. "Too late now."

"Just remember, I warned you."

"Tell you what. Loser buys the beer later, agreed?"

He didn't get a chance to answer before the polished steel walls morphed into the lobby of a bustling high rise. I immediately took off to the nearest stairwell, knowing that this would be programmed to have the explosives ready for me to set up to blow the foundation out of the building, collapsing the structure and trapping hundreds of civilians. If the program was functioning the way it was supposed to, Sam would effectively be about fifteen city blocks from my current position, no matter where he'd been physically at the beginning of the program. He would have also discovered by now that he was backed up by virtual X-Men, namely Iceman, Storm and Nightcrawler. This gave me about three minutes to set the charges and get the hell out of there before the place blew. I made it with half a minute to spare, plenty of time.

I ran outside the building to an alley across the street and waited for it to blow. The "X-Men" showed up just as it went up and it was only because of quick thinking on the part of "Iceman" that they weren't hit by any flying debris. Once the dust settled, they waded in to start digging people out and that was my cue. I popped my claws and ran across the street with a snarl.

Sam was busily shoving debris aside with "Nightcrawler" by his side, waiting to bamf in and get people to safety, with "Storm" and "Iceman" to back them up. I engaged "Iceman" first, who was programmed to react as much like the real Iceman that Buzz could manage. I'll be the first one to admit it was pretty spot on. He immediately tried freezing me in place, but I slashed through the ice with my claws and kept coming, forcing him to engage hand-to-hand. In the meantime, "Storm" was using her power to toss lightning at my feet, forcing me to dodge while keeping "Iceman" in melee range. I sensed a bolt a split second before it struck me and dodged. At the same moment, "Iceman" lunged forward for an attack and was struck by friendly fire. One down, three to go.

I concentrated on "Storm" next, who was hovering a few feet over my head and continuing with the lightning strikes, as well as calling up a heavy wind to blow dust and smaller debris in my face. I finally chucked a hunk of concrete at her, breaking her concentration long enough to bring her to the ground. I fought against the wind she was still kicking up, eventually getting close enough to hit her. This broke her concentration completely and the wind died down. She threw a few kicks and punches, which I easily blocked before shoving my right hand claws into her gut. No matter how many times I've killed the virtual X-Men, it was still a terrible thing to see. It's what happened next that I hadn't counted on.

I'd gotten used to the real X-Men being in these scenarios, people I considered friends who still had trouble attacking me when one of their own went down. I had somehow forgotten the variable known as Sam in all of this, even though the whole point of getting him here was to fight him in the first place. So I shouldn't have been surprised when a chunk of concrete roughly the size of a Humvee came flying at my head, but I was. I barely managed to dodge it when I saw the hulking form of Sam bearing down on me.

I retracted my claws right away, since I knew he was the only other real person in here and I didn't want to permanently injure him. He had a look of pure rage on his face, his fists clenched so hard the knuckles were white. As soon as he was in range, I threw a punch at him but he blocked it easily by sweeping me aside and sending me flying through the wall of the building across the street. I stood up, shaking my head and calming myself; I could not let the animal out right now, no matter how much it wanted to be released. I stalked to the hole I left in the wall, popping out with a growl but I was forced to dodge again as a Buick came flying towards me. I rolled out of the way and came up on my feet, once again pushing the animal down. I lowered my head and barreled straight for him intending to tackle him to the street and pummel him about the head. The reality was a bit different, as he grabbed me by the arm and spun me around, tossing me to the pile of rubble behind him. I landed pretty hard, but I managed to scramble to my feet and turned to face him. I was about twelve feet above him and decided an aerial attack might be my best bet. I let out a primal scream and dove for his face, hoping to catch him around the neck and bring him down. He surprised me yet again by grabbing me by the side of my head and slamming me down into the street hard enough to leave a crater and make me see stars. I barked out "End scenario!" and the scene froze before morphing back to the normal plain steel.

I stood up and walked over to Sam who was shaking his head as though to clear it and backing up. I grinned. "Good fight man. Thanks."

His head snapped up and I saw fear in his eye. "Logan! Are you all right? Did I hurt you?"

"Nah, I've had worse." I replied, still grinning. "It's a shame you're not on the team, that was some quality work there. No one else can beat me in here."

"I don't understand, why were you the enemy in that program?"

"Me and Angela, we're assassin trained. They wanted us to come up with worst-case scenarios for them and the worst we could think of was them havin' to face us. They ain't beat us yet." I clapped him on the back. "Congratulations, friend. You did the impossible."

His posture relaxed and he managed a weak smile. "Uh, thanks I suppose." He replied, looking at his hands then back up at me. "You sure you're all right."

"Yeah I'm fine. Looks like I'm buyin' the beers eh?"

He smiled again and we went to the locker room to put our uniforms away. As I was leaving, I caught him looking at me with a strange expression on his face, part confusion and part admiration. I just gave him a wave and went in search of my woman. I found her sitting in the lounge with Storm and Rogue, the three of them giggling over something. I cringed a bit, not really wanting to get caught up in anything really girly, so I tried to sneak out to the patio but I was too slow.

"Logan!" Rogue called. I carefully schooled my expression and turned around. "Come here, we've got a mystery. Maybe you can help."

"Sorry kid, I can't tell you anythin' about the inner mind of the male mutant or I'll lose my guy tags." I said as I walked over. "You'll just have to figure it out yourself like everyone else."

"Be nice, lover." Angela replied, standing up to give me a quick kiss. I lowered myself into an armchair and she perched on my lap. "We think Storm here has a secret admirer."

"The hell you say." I said with a grin. "Like who?"

"I don't know!" Storm cried, throwing her hands in the air. "All I know is that I've had little gifts left outside my bedroom door the past three days. No notes, no cards, nothing to give me any idea who it could be."

"So? Who cares? Just go with it."

"It's just making me crazy trying to figure this out! I got roses the first day, a bottle of wine yesterday and this morning, I got this." She held out a CD. "It looks like every other Sting CD, except this one isn't supposed to be out for two more weeks AND it's signed. Who the hell could have managed that around here?"

I shrugged and gave her a blank look. "I have no idea. Someone with crap taste in music?" She slapped my arm lightly and I laughed. "Seriously, I haven't a clue." Actually, I did have a clue, I just didn't say anything.

"Well, I think it's romantic." Rogue said with a sigh. "No one's ever done anythin' like that for me." She looked at Storm, her eyes twinkling. "Hey, think you could talk about this real loud in front of Bobby? Think he'd take the hint?"

"Don't hold your breath, kid." I said. "His skull is almost as thick as mine."

"Not possible." Angela said with a giggle. "I haven't had a romantic gesture from you since right after Alkali Lake."

"Maybe so, but your idea of a romantic gift is a matched set of throwing knives."

"So? A girl has to have standards and throwing knives are shit if they're not matched." Everyone laughed at that as Angela kissed me again. We chatted for a little longer until the clocked chimed and it was time to go to dinner. Sam was quieter than normal, but that wasn't the most shocking thing I saw. What took my by surprise was Totem sitting in a corner with Chasca and Sofia, the first time I'd seen the guy out in public during any meal since we'd brought him back here. He'd mostly taken a tray in his room or eaten in the kitchen for some reason. I nudged Angela and pointed them out to her and she just smiled.

"You didn't hear? They've spent most of today together." She whispered. "In fact, today was the first day he wasn't lurking about trying to catch me without one of my shadows." She meant Storm and Rogue, who had appointed themselves as her "bodyguards" when I wasn't able to do so myself.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well, isn't that interestin'?"

"Logan, do you know something you're not telling me?"

I shrugged. "Lets just say I explained the difference between knowin' you love someone and bein' told you love someone to the guy."

"Huh. Interesting." She sat back and chewed on her thumbnail, deep in thought.

"Speakin' of which, how's that stuff goin' with Chuck, gettin' rid of those telepathic suggestions you have?"

"Pretty good. I can actually be in the same room with Totem now and I don't feel like throwing myself at him, then scratching his eyes out."

"I still ain't opposed to that second option."

She rolled her eyes at me and we finished our meal in silence. It had become habit for the adults to meet on the patio for brandy after dinner since Sam had showed up and he'd finally broken his funk by the time we got out there. I offered him a cigar, which he accepted and we stood around making small talk for about half an hour before Angela dragged me off in her trademark unsubtle fashion. I can't begin to explain how much I love that woman.

A few hours later I emerged from the shower and I was running my fingers through my hair in yet another useless attempt to tame it when I felt something odd. I pressed my fingers into the side of my head, pushing my hair aside and looking into the mirror. The more I prodded this one tiny spot, no bigger than my fingertip, the wider my eyes got. My guts twisted and I yelled for Angela.

She came at a run, claws out. "What's wrong?" She snapped, a note of panic in her voice.

"Come here." She put her claws away and I grabbed her hand, putting it to the spot I'd found on my head. "What is this? What do you feel?"

She prodded my skull, her eyes narrowed. She pushed me down on the side of the tub and shoved my head sideways, pulling the hair aside and prodding harder. "Logan, is that a dent? How the hell did you get a dent in your skull?"

"You don't remember it from before? Are you sure?"

"I know every inch of you, Logan and I swear to you, that's new. Now what the hell happened and who do I have to kill?"

I stood up, gritting my teeth. "That son of a bitch DENTED me!" I snarled, pulling on a pair of sweats. "He fuckin' dented ME!" I went to the bedroom door and yanked it open so hard it slammed into the wall. I stalked down the hall to Sam's door and pounded on it until he threw it open. I didn't give him a chance to speak, I just grabbed him by his shirt front, planted my feet on his legs and snarled. "God damn you! You DENTED me asshole!"

"What?" He asked, clearly bewildered.

"I said you dented me! How the fuck did you do that?"

Understanding came into his eyes and he took a deep breath. Grabbing me under my arms, he pried me off him and set me down gently on my feet. "Logan, when I was a student here I once got in a fight with another student over a girl. I hit him and it was only his mutation that saved him from being killed when he went through the wall. As it stands, he was comatose for four days and part of the northwest corner of the mansion came down on top of me. Lets just say that anger, adrenaline and my uncontrolled strength do not mix."

I took a step back, not sure I'd heard him correctly. "You're sayin' this was from the Danger Room?"

He nodded. "Probably when I slammed you into the street. I told you, I left the team for several reasons. My temper was another one, especially when it comes to my teammates. When people I care about get hurt, I just lose it. That's not something one can afford to do in a combat situation."

"Shit, I do it all the time and they keep me around."

"Logan, you're not going to change my mind. I'm sorry I damaged you."

"Ah, don't sweat it. It just threw me off." I grinned and went back to my room. As I was closing the door, it occurred to me that he hadn't lost his temper when I took out the virtual Iceman. In fact, he'd not even attempted to intervene even a little during that fight. It wasn't until I'd taken out the virtual Storm that he'd lost it.

Yep, I knew who her "secret admirer" was, all right.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** Well, i'm sure i'll hear quite a few things about aspects of this chapter...but let me say this first...according to the novelization of the Weapon X story, the only thing harder than adamantium is diamond...yet if the perfect conditions are present, a diamond can be cut...after all, they don't come out of the ground all pretty and faceted like that...:) So take into consideration things like Sam's mutation plus adrenaline from losing his temper plus a bunch of physics i'm not going to get into, and yes even Logan's head can be dented...:)

Special thanks to my beta readers, Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel for their hard work and dedication...Extra Special thanks to Dee (MidLifeCrisis) and Rhia (RhiannonUK) for their assistance throughout my writing process...if you haven't read their stories, go now, don't wait another minute...Super Special thanks to the readers, who are the reason i keep doing this...and Super Special Swanky thanks to those who have reviewed...your ongoing support keeps me happy...:)


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** I own Angela, Buzz, Sam, Totem, Chasca, little Ryan Hiller and a few other characters...everyone else belongs to someone else, including Logan, which is very depressing...my characters don't like strangers, so please do not approach them...i won't be responsible for their actions if i'm not the one writing them!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 16

(Angela)

Indian summer gave way to real autumn seemingly overnight. The kids loved every minute of it, doing their level best to destroy all the carefully arranged leaf piles as soon as they were gathered and getting ready for Halloween. I got in the spirit by streaking my hair with bright orange. Unbeknownst to me, they were getting ready for something else, too. If I live to be a thousand years old, I will never know how anyone managed to keep a secret from me in a house full of teenagers, much less one with Kitty, Jubilee and Rogue in the mix. But keep a secret they did. And the worst part was that Logan was behind it all.

I admit I wasn't paying that much attention to a lot of the stuff going on around me. The Professor and I were still working very hard to break down the telepathic suggestions that were embedded in the instinct portion of my head. In order to do this, I had to more or less enter a completely feral state where I was working on nothing but instinct and Charles would then "ride" on that wave into the suggestions and break them down. During these sessions, my memories of how they inserted them in the first place came into clearer focus, how they strapped me to a table and tortured me until instinct was all I had left. Needless to say, I was again strapped to a table, Dr. Endicott monitoring my vitals while I called up the animal on purpose. For all that it took a huge toll on me, I knew Charles didn't like it either. He told me once that there was a reason why telepaths don't try to communicate with animals and digging through my feral brain was as close as he ever wanted to get. Of course, he'd have to go through this again with Logan once we had my head in order. He was doing a similar thing with Totem, only he was also using his new emotional attachment to Chasca as a means of breaking down his compulsions. I made a vow that if he managed to get all of our heads in working order (relatively speaking, as far as Logan's concerned) I was giving half of my money to the school.

At any rate, these sessions left me pretty tired and I had to save my energy for classes and Danger Room with the different teams. Logan had taken over the hands-on supervision due to Totem being added to the Delta team with Chasca. He explained to me why he did it, but that didn't mean I had to like it. On the other hand, it seemed to be working so I wasn't going to argue too much. At least I still got to supervise Beta team, so I wasn't wanting for action in that regard.

I'd also finally sat down with Buzz and gone over my Weapon X file with him. I was astonished to learn that Stryker had been tracking me through at least three of my aliases (that's right, Angela Rex is SO not my real name!), but had apparently been unsure if any or all of them were really me. He noted in the file that my fatal slip-up had been withdrawing money from one of my many accounts under the alias I'd been using just previous to Angela Rex. Sure, it hadn't been the safest thing to do, but I'd chosen that bank because it had branches all over the country and I'd had no idea I was under surveillance in the first place. I simply needed the money too badly to be worried about it at the time. I usually didn't leave a town unless something happened to kill me and when I came back, it was always easier to just go away.

The worst part was the file on Emma, who he hadn't bothered to give a code name to; she was just Mutant 176 to him. She was almost fourteen when we were grabbed and she died just after her sixteenth birthday. Her mutation didn't actually manifest until she'd woken up in her cell at Alkali Lake. Turns out she'd had the ability to see through walls and somewhat enhanced senses. The downside was she didn't inherit my healing factor or my nine lives, so they'd tried to artificially insert my X gene into her DNA over the fourteen and a half months she'd survived. Ultimately, that was what killed her.

I was just as shocked as Logan to discover there were still four Weapon X operatives out there, still active. I knew we'd eventually have to hunt them all down and eliminate them, but that was a problem for another day. It was also the smallest of the problems, since it also meant that the program was alive and well and under new management. We'd have to take them out eventually as well, but again it was something to worry about later.

On the lighter side of things, we still had Storm's ongoing mystery to occupy our time. Whenever we brought it up around Logan, he just smiled like he knew something, but only said "I have no proof". We didn't want proof! We were all about speculation as it was! But all we ever got was the cryptic little smile and he'd walk away, humming. It pissed me off, drove Storm to distraction and Rogue threatened to imprint the daylights out of him on more than one occasion. We knew it was only a matter of time before we figured it out. We just wanted it to be sooner rather than later.

I woke up on October ninth to clear skies and an empty bed. That was my first indication that something was extremely not normal. Logan simply didn't get up before I did, we liked our early morning snuggles and whatever else we could get away with. But this was a Saturday and there was no reason for him to not be in bed with me. I felt a sudden surge of panic and jumped out of bed, pulled on some clothes without paying attention and rushed out of the room. I made my way to the ground floor as silently as possible, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

The mansion was enveloped in an eerie silence, something that's nearly impossible in a place that houses children ranging from eight years to however old Logan really is. I slipped from room to room, checking for other signs of life but I couldn't find anyone. I resorted to pinching myself, but I already knew I wasn't dreaming. And there was no way anyone had come in and taken everyone except me. Logan would have woken me up even if the alarm system hadn't. Once I'd determined there was no one inside, I ventured carefully outdoors.

The lawn was immaculate, the small leaf piles completely undisturbed and the only sounds were those I would expect in the middle of nowhere: wind in the trees, small animals and birds, the water flowing in the reflecting pool. No kids, no teachers, there was literally no one here. I checked from one end of the grounds to the other and saw not one sign of another person. I was beyond worried at that point and moving towards completely freaked at an alarming rate.

I had just decided to go back inside and check the lower levels when I heard the distinctive "bamf" sound and caught a whiff of brimstone. I whipped myself around.

"Kurt! Where the hell is everyone?" I asked, panic coloring my voice.

"Don't vorry, Angela." He replied in that calm way of his. "Everyone is all right." He came over to me and took my hand. "Come vith me, I vill take you to them." I relaxed about an inch and stepped into his arms. He tightened his grip on me and I closed my eyes in preparation for the teleport, a sensation that isn't easy to take. A split second later, we were back on solid ground and I recognized the polished steel walls of the Danger Room. Kurt stepped back a bit, a huge grin on his face. "Now, turn around."

I did, very slowly and I broke out in a grin of my own at the sight. I heard Buzz say "start program" from somewhere in the crowd and the walls morphed into an exact replica of my club back in Detroit, RnR. Standing amidst this sorely missed setting was everyone from the school, Logan at the front with a grin on his face. "Surprise, darlin.' Happy birthday."

A cheer rose from the assembled students and I was suddenly engulfed in a wave of people, everyone wanting to hug me or pat me on the back. I noticed that Logan hung back with the Professor, waiting for me to come to them. After getting a kiss on the cheek from Piotr and a shy hug from little Ryan Hiller, I broke free from the crowd and walked over to them, mock glaring at Logan. I stopped a few feet in front of him and crossed my arms.

"And exactly how long have you been planning this?" I asked as indignantly as possible.

"Oh, about two weeks or so." He replied, coming over and pulling me into his arms. "It wasn't an easy secret to keep."

"It's a minor miracle that it remained kept." Charles injected, bringing his chair next to me and taking my hand. "Logan came to me and asked if I knew when your birthday was. He was most put out that it was so close and he had almost no time to plan. As it stands, I believe he has several more surprises for you."

I leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "I should be very cross with you, Charles. Just tell me you didn't put a hundred and five candles on my cake!"

"What and ruin the surprise?" Logan said with a grin. I slapped him playfully on the shoulder and he leaned over and kissed me soundly. "But I'm sure you're starving and we already had all the food down here before Buzz started the program."

"You got that right!" I said and he led me over to a buffet that was heaped with all my favorite breakfast foods, which is pretty much anything except grits. Of course, with Rogue around, grits were there anyway. I heaped my plate and carried it to a table near the dance floor. Logan sat across from me and we ate in silence, occasionally glancing at each other. I could tell by the look in his eye that he was still keeping something from me, but he was fair bursting to let it out. I decided to play it cool and let things unfold as they would.

Once the food portion of the morning was over and the last dish cleared up and taken back to the kitchen, Logan dragged me to the middle of the dance floor and called for silence. "Now, we all know why we're here, so I'll just get right to it." He started, grinning down at me. "Normally, I believe there would be a birthday spankin' for the birthday girl…"

"Logan, don't you dare!" I hissed, cutting him off.

"Shh, don't interrupt, I'm makin' a speech here!" He whispered back then cleared his throat. "As I was sayin', birthday spankin'." A chorus of whoops and cheers rose from the older students and I glared at them. Once they quieted, Logan continued. "But since we're dealin' with someone who can kick everyone's ass except mine and maybe Sam's, we're gonna skip that for now."

"I can so kick your ass!" I shouted, hands on my hips and everyone laughed. "Care to dance right now, show them you're not such a badass?"

"Funny you should mention that." He said and nodded to Buzz. Music flooded the room and I glared at him again. "Anyway, we'll let you kids have the Danger Room Dance Club to yourselves for a while, the rest of us have a few things we need to do before she gets her presents." Another cheer rose up and we barely made it out of the way before the dance floor was covered with cavorting kids. Logan took my hand and led me out of the Danger Room with the other adults and Rogue, Kitty, Piotr, Jubilee and Bobby close behind. I figured they were the co-conspirators in this and I was once again impressed that the secret was kept, especially with Jubilee involved. We all made our way upstairs and out to the patio.

Once outside, I ran my fingers through my hair and turned on Logan. "I swear, if I can figure out your birthday, there will be hell to pay mister!" I said, trying to be angry but failing miserably. "I was scared to death you know!"

"Oh, come on, you had to know it couldn't be anything bad." Scott said with a smirk. "We all know you'd never sleep through a fight." I glared at him and he just laughed and gave me a huge hug. I was a little startled. He hadn't done more than clasp my shoulder since Logan had his little talk with him months before. I looked over his shoulder to Logan, but he was deep in conversation with Storm, smoking a cigar and not even paying attention to us. After a moment, he gave me a quick peck on the cheek and pulled away. "I wanted to thank you for bringing Sam back here. I can't tell you how much it means that you suggested it to the Professor."

"Well, I didn't, not really." I replied, my cheeks coloring. "I just said you needed someone here that you would actually talk to about stuff. I didn't know Sam from Adam before we went to get him."

"Yeah, I know. But Storm told me it was a bottle of whisky and some of your stories of what's been happening out there that really convinced him. He knows how I feel about unnecessary violence, that I depended on Jean to help me out when it became necessary. I just felt so off balance and when it seemed like Storm was going the way of the sword, well…anyway, all I'm saying is you were right. I do need to let go, say goodbye. I'm not quite ready yet but Sam's been a big help and like I said, thank you for bringing him here."

"Anytime, Scott. Just don't wait around so long the next time you need someone you really trust, ok? I know you were coming to me because you didn't know where else to go, but I'll never tell you anything just to make you feel better."

"Don't I know it!" He laughed and we made our way over to the main group.

I slipped next to Logan, wrapping my arm around his waist and snuggling in. "So, why are we all out here?"

"Mostly because there are some gifts too big to fit in the Danger Room." Charles replied. "And others that should be given away from the prying eyes of curious children."

I raised an eyebrow as Storm brought out a large box wrapped in silver paper and placed it in my hands. I looked around and they all just grinned, so I pulled up a chair and sat down to unwrap it. I opened the card first. It read "To Angela, from the entire team. We couldn't have done so much without you." I set it aside and opened the box. Nestled inside was my very own X-Man uniform.

Until that point, I'd only worn black or olive cargo pants and a tank top when we went on anything resembling an actual mission. I carefully lifted the black leather creation out of the box and gave it a shake. It followed the same basic lines as the others, but the piping on mine was a soft shade of dove gray, along with the encircled X that's more or less the X-Men logo. I could tell that it would be form fitting, yet easy to move in at the same time. A pair of gloves came next and I noticed clever little holes in the fingertips just where my claws would come out. The last bit was a pair of specially designed boots that resembled the tabi boots that ninjas wear, except that these had straps that would slide between my toes, allowing me full use of them along with the claws on my feet. I also noticed that unlike Storm's, Rogue's and Kitty's, these didn't have any heels on them at all, they were perfectly flat and had a gritty texture to the soles.

I looked up with tears in my eyes. "Charles, I don't know what to say."

"Say yes, my dear." He said with a smile. "You have earned it a hundred times over. I know I offered it to you before and you never really gave me an answer. But I do know that my children have all felt a good deal safer with you around and many of them look up to you as a hero. I thought it was time to make that official."

"But I…Charles, you have to know that if it comes to any kind of combat situation, you know what I'm going to do."

"Yes, I do. I have come to understand, as have the rest of us, that although the methods that you and Logan employ can be extreme, you also know that the road we are on is a darker one than we expected. I trust that you will always make the right decision in regards to dealing with someone permanently and when something a little less will do."

How could I possibly argue with that logic? "All right then. I accept your offer, Charles. It will be an honor to serve as an X-Man, for as long as you want me."

Everyone smiled and Storm came over and hugged me close. We were starting to become pretty good friends and I was glad of it. I hadn't had a close female friend in a very long time and I got along well with her. Everyone else had a turn with the hugging, then Rogue stepped up with the other older kids who'd joined us.

"Angela, you don't know how much it meant to us kids when you went after Logan like you did." She began. "I know some people didn't agree with it, but it was the right thing to do. And you never lie to us or tell us stuff because you think we're better off not knowin'. Anyway, this is from all of us." She stepped aside and Piotr came forward with a large, flat package. I took it carefully and unwrapped it, tears again springing to my eyes. It was a beautifully done painting of me and Logan, an enlargement of the photo I'd been clinging to for so many years. It was so realistic it looked as though I could step into the canvas and return to that waterfall and that last perfect day we'd had together. My eyes settled at the bottom of the painting and I saw that it had been painted by Piotr.

I stood up and pulled his head down to me, kissing him soundly on the lips. "You are the most amazing sneak on the planet!" I said as he blushed. "Thank you so much!"

"Oh, it was nothing." He mumbled. "Rogue told me about your birthday, Logan brought me the photograph. It was the least I could do." I smiled up at him again and returned to my seat.

The next person up surprised me, because it was Totem. I swallowed hard, not knowing what to expect but Logan seemed perfectly at ease. Chasca was with him and it didn't escape my notice that they were holding hands. I smiled inwardly, but kept my expression carefully neutral. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Angela, I know that things have been difficult for us. But Logan-san has been helping me to learn how things should be between people. And the Professor has helped me to see the things that I believed were not true things and together we have removed much of the damage that was done." He pulled what appeared to be a scroll from behind his back and handed it to me. "I will understand if you do not accept this, but it is my wish that you will."

I unrolled it carefully, setting aside the beautiful silk scarf he'd wrapped around it. It was a scroll, about three feet long and eighteen inches wide. Up one side was a classic Japanese ink drawing of a mountain with a lake at the base, surrounded by cherry trees in full bloom. Running down the other side was something written in Japanese that I couldn't read. I turned it to Logan. "Lover, what does this say?" I asked.

He looked it over, then cleared his throat. "Uh, it's a series of haiku. It says 'Dishonored you, I humbly apologize, I have caused you pain. I now make a vow, I dishonor you no more, on pain of my death. On my own honor, I will always protect you, on this vow I swear.' And he's signed it with his real name." We both looked at him and he bowed low before going to his knees in front of me. To say I was stunned is an understatement.

"Angela, I have caused you pain and grief and that dishonors me." He whispered. "I have no right to ask this of you, but I do not wish us to be enemies."

I reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kyrohyou, this is a very brave thing for you to do." I said, my voice shaking a little. "And it is honorable. I accept."

He let out a breath and stood, bowing again before taking my hand and kissing it. I squeezed it a little and smiled, then he went back and stood next to Chasca and took her hand. I didn't know everything that he had been doing with the Professor and Logan, but it was obviously working. I felt a huge weight lift from my shoulders.

Logan was the last one up. "Ok darlin', my turn." He said with a grin as he took my other packages and set them aside. "We have to go somewhere else for mine."

"Oh really?" I said with a smirk. "And we're bringing everyone with us?"

"Angela!" Storm cried, laughing. "Not in front of the children!"

"Oh please!" Kitty said, rolling her eyes. "Everyone knows those two are slaves to their hormones!"

Logan and I both glared at her as everyone laughed. After we settled, Logan pulled out a scarf and tied it around my eyes. "Now before you say anythin' pervy about this, it's because I couldn't wrap my gift up. So you'll just have to trust me."

"Always." I said and took his arm. We walked slowly back into the mansion and although I've walked the entire place a thousand times over, I was hopelessly lost within the first three minutes. I've never been without my extra-sharp eyesight so being blindfolded was very disorienting. After countless twists, turns and doorways, we finally came to a stop. By the echo, I figured we were in the garage, but why was a mystery to me. We waited a few moments for everyone to get situated, then Logan came up behind me and whispered in my ear. "I love you, darlin'." He whisked the blindfold away and I blinked a couple times then squealed with delight.

Sitting there before me, gleaming like the sun, was my beloved bright orange GTO. I ran all around it, touching every surface before throwing myself on the hood and kissing it. I did notice it had a slightly new paint job, as someone had taken the liberty of airbrushing an encircled X on the hood in black with silver shading. I turned to Charles with a smirk. "How did you know I would say yes?" I asked, shaking a finger at him.

"Why does everyone around here forget that I'm psychic?" He said to no one in particular.

I just laughed and ran over to Logan, leaping on him with my arms and legs wrapped around him and kissing him. "You are the best boyfriend ever!" I said with a huge smile. "I love you!"

"Nothin's too good for my woman." He said, stroking my back. "I know how much you missed it, so me and One-Eye went and picked it up the other day."

"Oh really?" I said, sliding to the floor. I turned to Scott who was pointedly looking away from me. "Listen up, Boy Scout. You keep your grubby mitts off my baby, you hear me? No tweaking, no little surprises, no gadgets. I restored this thing myself and it's even street legal if you don't look too closely. You can never borrow it and in fact I don't even want you to polish it. Understood?"

"You restored it yourself?" He asked, his mouth gaping. "You didn't tell me you knew about cars!"

"You didn't ask." I replied with a smirk. "And I don't know about cars in the plural sense. I know about THIS car. And what I know about it most of all is that it's MINE."

Scott looked from the car, to me, to Logan, back to the car and back to Logan. "You are the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet, did you know that?"

"Yeah, I am." He replied with a grin. I took his hand and we all went back inside the mansion. Storm, Scott, Charles and Sam all made their way back down to the lower level, while Totem, Chasca and Kurt excused themselves to the kitchen. Logan and I went back out to retrieve my gifts and took them back to our room. I set them gently on top of the dresser and turned to find Logan standing right behind me. He slid his arms around my waist and pulled me close, kissing me softly. My arms snaked around his neck and he picked me up, carried me to the bed and gently laid me down. He pulled away from me and looked me in the eyes. "Happy birthday, darlin'. Now you get the other half of your present." I smiled and pulled him back down to me and we celebrated.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We emerged a few hours later and made our way back down to "Club Danger Room" for the rest of the party. Some of the younger kids had made me little birthday cards and little gifts, which I gushed over with complete sincerity. I hadn't actually celebrated my birthday in years, mostly because I didn't really have anyone to celebrate with. This all day party more than made up for it.

The tables were now laden with snacks of all kinds, ranging from healthy veggies and dip (Storm's influence, I'm sure) to downright decadent (a variety of truffles ranging from strawberry puree' to dark chocolate). The music currently playing was a mix of eighties pop and current dance favorites, which made me cringe a little. This would have never happened in the real RnR, mostly because I can't stand most current music. I hoped that I'd be able to play whatever I wanted after the younger kids were taken out of the equation.

Logan still seemed restless, which I didn't understand. He'd done a fantastic job of giving me a perfect birthday, but he acted like something was amiss. It finally got my nerves enough to ask him about it.

"Oh, it's nothin' darlin'." He said, scanning the room. "Just somethin' else I was expectin' isn't here yet."

"Oh really? And what might that be?" I asked, all innocence.

"You ain't gettin' it outta me that easily. It'll ruin the surprise."

"Come on! You've already done so much already, what could possibly make this any better?"

He looked over my shoulder and his expression brightened. "Um, I'm thinkin' that might do it." He said and pointed to the door. I turned around and screamed. Making his way across the room with a huge grin on his face was Ricky.

I ran over to him threw myself into his arms. He hugged me back, laughing. "Hey bosslady! Long time no see!"

"Ricky! What are you doing here?" I asked, looking him over. Running my bars seemed to be agreeing with him.

"Couldn't miss this could I? Especially with that guy of yours threatening me with vivisection if I didn't come."

"He didn't!" I said, turning to scowl at Logan across the room. He just grinned and I rolled my eyes. "He's so impossible sometimes."

"Can't be all bad. He managed to catch you. We all thought that was impossible."

"Well, we have some history."

"And I plan on hearing the whole story before I leave. I'm here til Wednesday."

"Who's watching the bars while you're gone? You're taking good care of them, right?"

He laughed. "Yes, I'm taking great care of them. Carl's watching RnR and I hired a girl to manage The Dive for me." I narrowed my eyes and he held up his hands to ward me off. "Relax! She moved back to Detroit from Chicago, she'd been managing a dance club out there for the past five years. I figure if she can handle The Dive for a while, I'll make her assistant manager at RnR in a few months."

I calmed down and hugged him again. "Don't get too comfy. I want to come back someday."

He looked down at his shoes and his shoulders slumped. "Yeah well, about that."

"What?" A cold lump formed in my stomach. "Ricky, what happened?"

"Look, before I say anything else I want you to know that I fought for you tooth and nail, ok?" I nodded and he took a deep breath. "Well, after you…left…they tried to seize all of your holdings. Since you'd already been declared dead, they had to honor your will that left me everything, even though you'd been seen alive by a lot of people. So, they tried to revoke the liquor licenses, but they couldn't since everything was in my name now. I had a rough spot for a little while, all that stupid 'mutie lover' crap, but I hired some extra security and it died down. Anyway, I don't think it'll be safe for you to come back til after everyone's dead."

"Great." I said, resigned. Story of my life. "Oh well, I guess it's for the best. Maybe I'll just open a club around here somewhere."

"Looks like you have a way better gig than that. Logan told me a little of what you all do. I think it's great, actually. My ex-boss is a superhero, how cool is that?"

"I'm no hero, much less a super one."

"Sure. If it makes you feel better to believe that, you go right ahead. But I knew you were a mutant way before you hired me and I never cared. Hell, I feel a lot better knowing you're out here, keeping the world safe. I know you, you're stubborn and tough and you won't take any shit from anyone. The bad guys should just give up now while they have a chance."

I smiled a little. "You always did know how to cheer me up." I hugged him again. "It's good to see you, though. Go enjoy yourself, I'll be right back."

He made his way through the kids to Logan and I smiled. I now had all my favorite guys in one building, even if one was only there temporarily. I'd missed Ricky more than I'd ever let on to anyone and email just wasn't the same. I gave a contented sigh and left the Danger Room.

I made my way down to the locker room to look at my new uniform hanging up in the row next to the others. I still didn't feel much like a superhero. I probably never would. I knew where I came from, the things I'd done, things I'd never even told Logan about, though I'm sure that Charles knew. How could he not, when we'd spent the last few weeks breaking down the telepathic compulsions Stryker'd given me? Of course, our last few sessions had proven pointless, since the Professor said he couldn't find anything else in there to take out. I was confident enough to know that if he couldn't find something, it simply wasn't there. So I was essentially "cured" of that bit of trouble, which made me very happy indeed. So why wasn't I happy now?

I sat down on a bench and continued my scrutiny of the uniform. It was a beautiful piece of work, from the toeless tabi all the way to the decorative piping around the collar. But it also came with a huge responsibility, not just to the Professor or the students or even the other X-Men. No, this was a responsibility to do what's right for people everywhere, not just mutants. I know Charles trusted me to not kill indiscriminately, but would anyone else in the world know the difference? Or would they just see another "dangerous mutant" and try to put me away? Even worse, would they try to capture me to experiment on again, or try to turn me back into that perfect killer?

I was still turning these thoughts over in my head when I heard someone enter the locker room behind me. I looked in the glass front of the locker and saw Totem standing there.

"Am I disturbing you?" He asked, not moving from the doorway.

"No, you're not. I'm just thinking." I gestured for him to come closer and he crossed over and took the seat next to me. I didn't say anything right away, too wrapped up in staring at my uniform. After a few minutes, he shifted a little and cleared his throat. I looked over and he was staring at me with a curious expression on his face. "Something on your mind?"

"I saw you leave your party and when you didn't come back I wanted to find you." He said. "There was something I wanted to know."

"Hm, what's that?"

"You and Logan come from the same place I do, yes?" I nodded. "Have you ever wondered why he did the things he did to us in there?"

"He wanted perfect weapons, so he made us. He was insane."

"I know that part. But did you know there were many others like us that he didn't change? After you left, he found so many others, people who could heal like we do or were like animals."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "No, I didn't know that. But Buzz is still working on those hard drives, decoding them."

"You won't find them in there. Some of those people could not be changed, could not be made to kill. So he killed them and since they were like us, it took a very long time." He swallowed and turned away. "Did we make it through because we always wanted to kill?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you're asking me."

"I do not remember killing anyone before I was taken to Alkali Lake. I had only been taken on a few missions before he started training me to hunt for you, but I had to kill people for him and it didn't bother me to do it. So was I always like this or did he make me like this?"

"Kyrohyou, I don't know. We haven't found all of your files yet, so I don't know what's in them. I can't tell you what Logan was like before because we just don't know." I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "I can tell you that Alkali Lake wasn't the first time I'd killed people. It was just the first time I did it because I wanted to." I turned to look at him and he was staring at me. "I've been around a long time, a hundred and five years today. There's been times I did what I had to do to survive. So yeah, my 'fight or flight' response has always been more fight and less flight, but I never took a life unless it was necessary. Stryker just made me like it."

"Do you think I will ever be a hero like you and Logan?"

I gave a bitter laugh. "Why does everyone keep saying that? I'm not a hero and I'm sure Logan doesn't feel like one either."

"Anyone who can break away from evil like William Stryker and still have enough of their honor left to fight for what is right is hero. You and Logan are the most honorable people I have ever known. I can only hope to one day be worthy of standing by your sides. You do not think of yourself as a hero, that is what makes you one. You do not TRY to be a hero, you just are." He stood up and bowed to me before leaving me alone again in the locker room. It was the first time we'd been alone together since the day he kissed me and I realized that I still had very strong feelings for him, just not the same ones as before. I had tremendous respect for him, for having the courage to overcome what had been done to him and the strength to ask for help in doing so. But I also felt an odd kinship for him. In a way, he was a brother, simply because he'd come from the same place that I had. If I thought about it hard enough, Logan should have been in the same category, but a slight case of being in love with him made the thought a little too icky to dwell on for too long. Like it or not, the three of us were family in a really twisted way.

I considered my uniform again, this time with new eyes. Logan told me the children thought of us as heroes and their reasons why. Ricky called me a hero. And now I had Totem calling me a hero. I shook my head and stood up. Maybe it didn't matter if I felt like a hero or not. Maybe the important part was that other people believed I was and that was what mattered. Maybe I'll never know.

I made my way out of the locker room and ran into Logan in the hall. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my cheek against his chest, just listening to his heartbeat and he kissed the top of my head. "You all right there darlin'?"

"Yeah, just needed to decompress for a bit." I looked up and smiled. "Do you ever get used to this whole 'hero' bit?"

"Nope, not even close. I ain't no hero, but if it makes them feel better who am I to argue? Besides, I look great in the uniform."

"Oh you are the most incorrigible!" I laughed and we rejoined the party.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Around nine o'clock, Storm shooed all but the Beta and Delta team members and a few of the other older students to bed. Just before midnight they brought out the rest of my gifts, one of which didn't go over too well with Logan.

Jubilee came forward with a shit eating grin on her face and handed me a gift bag. "I made a promise to His Surliness over there in exchange for no more extra laps. But he didn't say I couldn't do this." She winked and I dug through several layers of tissue paper to find a black t-shirt buried at the bottom. When I shook it out, I started laughing so hard I had tears running down my face. I turned it around so everyone could see it. She'd had a picture of Logan from the shoulders up airbrushed to the front, wearing his ubiquitous white tank top and one hand raised with the claws out. Underneath was the word "Wolvelicious!" in white and silver graffiti style letters. Everyone laughed except Logan, who scowled at Jubilee.

"Lee, you are in for a world of hurt come Monday mornin'." He growled.

"Hey, you can't do that!" She protested. "Besides, I had this done two days before our bargain, so it's not like I could just take it back!"

"You can't argue that logic, lover." I said. "Besides, I love it. I'll wear it under my uniform."

"I'll get you both for this, mark my words." He said and we all laughed again.

Storm gifted me with some herbal bath products that were all natural and smelled of sandalwood. From Kurt I received a six-pack of a German microbrew I'd never heard of before, which seemed to cheer up Logan a little when I promised to share (one bottle counts as sharing, right?). Scott gave me some extra soft chamois cloths, "To keep that baby of yours looking sharp", he said. I secretly thought he hoped to butter me up enough to be allowed to touch her someday. Not a chance, but at least he was trying. Ricky brought me four cases of Waterloo Dark. I gave him a huge kiss for that; he sure knew the way to my heart!

Last, but not least, were my gifts from Sam. The first box I opened had a dozen small compartments and inside each one was one of the jade Buddhas I'd left behind in Detroit. I clapped my hands with joy and gave him a huge hug. I had just set the box aside when he produced another one. "This is the real gift, my friend. I hope you like it."

The box was really heavy and I had to have Logan set it on the table for me. I opened it carefully and my eyes widened at what I saw inside. I gestured to Sam to help me and he obliged, lifting the gift from the box and setting it on the table. It was a statue of Logan, about eighteen inches high carved out of marble. He was in uniform, claws out, one hand behind him and the other in front as though sweeping at an opponent. Everything about it was perfect, from the furrowed brow to the set of his shoulders and it gave the impression of being in motion. The best touch was the claws themselves, which were actually sharp and made of silvered glass. I was rendered speechless for the umpteenth time.

Sam just smiled. "I take it that means you like it?" He asked.

"Like it? Sam, it's perfect!" I hugged him again. "But, how? I mean, I know Logan would have never agreed to pose for something like this."

"Damn straight." Logan mumbled as he inspected the statue and we laughed.

"You are correct, he didn't pose for it. At least, he didn't know he did." I looked at him in confusion. "He and I did a Danger Room scenario not too long ago. At one point, he was standing in that exact pose, just after attacking someone." He smirked and tapped the side of his head. "Sometimes it's so good to have an eidetic memory."

Finally, it was time to call it a night. We said goodnight to everyone and Buzz ended the program in the Danger Room, morphing it back to its usual polished steel. Logan helped me carry my gifts back to our room and I collapsed across the bed once everything was put away. He stretched out next to me and stroked the back of my neck with his thumb. I all but purred and turned to him.

"Mm, I love you, did you know that?" I asked.

"I have a pretty good idea." He murmured. "Good birthday?"

"The best ever. Most women my age wouldn't have made it through half the day."

"Yeah well you're younger than me, so I guess it all works out in the end." I snuggled into his chest and closed my eyes, not intending to fall asleep but I felt myself drifting off anyway. My last thought before sinking completely was of total contentment, something I'd not felt in a very long time. And it felt so very good.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** Ok, not very exciting...but i promise, there's all kinds of wackiness about to ensue! Review this chapter, then read on!


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: **Nothing has changed since the last chapter

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 17

(Logan)

Four days after Angela's party, Dr. Endicott called me down to the infirmary to meet with her friend, the neurologist. Hard as it is for me to admit, I was a little nervous about this. I'd had people fuck with my brain in so many ways, I was less than thrilled at the thought of someone else having a go at it. Since I hadn't been brain damaged in living memory, I wasn't sure how quickly it would heal. Normal people don't re-grow brain cells so it wasn't clear if my healing factor would work on damaged brain tissue or not. I felt pretty good about it. Dr. Endicott wasn't convinced.

Still, a longshot is better than no shot and I wasn't going to leave the infirmary without making this neurologist agree to dig this thing out of me. With that in mind, I made my way down to the lower level to meet with this guy. Dr. David Gilford was considered top of his field, which made me feel a little better. At least I wasn't going to be operated on by someone who'd barely scraped by in med school. Dr. Endicott made the introductions and we all sat down to talk about what needed to be done.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Mr. Logan." Dr. Gilford began. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Its just Logan." I replied. "And I'd be surprised if you had. It's not like memory chips are the latest craze in brain implants, I'm sure."

"It's not just that." He gestured to the wall behind him where my x-rays were hanging. "It's all of this. If I hadn't already been assured that the people responsible for this were already dead, I'd do everything in my power to have them brought to justice. What they did to you is simply appalling."

I snorted. "That's one way to put it. Not to say it hasn't come in handy and it's saved my life more than once. I would still have preferred it didn't happen."

"You do realize that this makes removing that chip a difficult process at best. We'll have to go in through the sinus cavity and if I'm understanding Darlene here correctly, we can't anesthetize you for the procedure."

"Not unless you have several thousand milligrams of somethin' I've never had before."

"So far as I can tell, there isn't something he hasn't had previously." Dr. Endicott said. "We tested everything we had on hand here and none of it worked. His immunity to drugs is simply amazing."

"Fascinating." Dr. Gilford murmured under his breath. "Simply fascinating. And this immunity, does it extend to other things?"

"Most everythin', so far as I know." I replied. "Every poison I've run into, every toxin. My healin' factor just adapts to whatever and I'm immune to it forever."

"Well, I might be able to find something you aren't immune to. We may have to try several drugs or combinations of drugs before we find something that works, but I will try. I'm reluctant to perform this procedure without anesthetic. It could take several hours."

"Look Doc, I don't care. I want this thing outta me as soon as you can do it. It ain't like I'm gonna sue you for malpractice or anythin'."

"Very well." He stood up and retrieved a file from the desk Dr. Endicott used when she was here. He opened it as he sat down. "I'm not going to bore you with a bunch of medical jargon. The chip is located here." He tapped the right side of his head near the temple. "I'm not very clear on how it works, but it probably has its own power source, a tiny battery of some kind. Because of that, I'm not sure if it has any defenses built into it to prevent removal. So, I'm going to try disabling it first by overloading it. That in itself may be quite painful."

"Doc, they flayed me alive and put molten metal on my bones. I can live with a headache."

"Fine." He scanned the notes again. "If disabling it doesn't work, I will attempt to remove it. I'll use a micro laser procedure that I've had success with in the past. That should limit the amount of trauma to the surrounding area and allow me to extract it. If necessary, I'll cut it apart and remove it in pieces. Again, this will be probably be…"

"Painful, I know. I can handle it Doc. Just get this thing outta me."

"I can't guarantee you'll regain your memory even if I do."

"I know that I won't if you don't." I said, my voice hardening. "Look, I'm gettin' this thing outta my head one way or another. If you won't do it, I'll find someone who will." I nodded to Dr. Endicott. "I trust this lady as much as I trust any other doctor. If she says you're my best shot, then I believe her."

He sighed. "All right. Come back tomorrow and we'll see what we can do for you."

We went over a few more things before we were done. We all stood and I shook his hand before leaving. I had one other idea for how to knock me out for this thing, but I had to ask someone first. And I was sure she wasn't going to like it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Are you outta your freakin' mind?" Marie said in disbelief. "No way am I gonna do that!"

I was sitting with Rogue, smoking my after dinner cigar when I asked her if she'd imprint me to unconsciousness just in case Dr. Gilford couldn't find an anesthetic to work on me. I figured if she could take enough to put me under, but not as much as I gave her on Liberty Island, it could work. I was right when I assumed she wouldn't like it.

"If none of the drugs he's got work on me, he'll have to go in without them." I replied. "I ain't waitin' for him to find somethin' to get this thing out. I'm only askin' you as a last resort, darlin'."

"But it'll shut you down! You were out for three days after Liberty Island! What if your healin' factor shuts down too much and he does real damage while he's in there?"

"Hey I came back just fine, didn't I?"

"No one messed with your brain then, either."

I took a drag off my cigar and exhaled with a sigh. "What'll it take to convince you to help me?"

She sat back and thought for a while, chewing on her lip while I finished my cigar and waited for her. I looked out over the school grounds, at the kids lounging around in small groups enjoying the weather while it was still warm enough to hang outside. Another group was busy with a basketball game and still others were walking about, hand in hand. I noted that one such couple was Piotr and Kitty. Well, maybe tossing him around last summer had made him notice the crush she'd had on him since forever. About damn time they got together. I also noticed Chasca flying around, trying some new maneuvers we'd been working on with Totem watching from the ground. Yet another unexpected yet completely welcome pairing. At least he wasn't sniffing around Angela anymore; in fact, since they were both now more or less in control of their own impulses towards each other, they'd started working on becoming friends. Hell, even I liked the guy now. Call it the "Alkali Lake bond" or whatever, but we all understood each other.

"I got it!" Rogue shouted and I jumped, startled. I turned to her with a scowl and she grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya."

"Don't do that again." I growled. "You got what?"

"I'll do what you ask if Josh is there, too."

"Josh? For what?"

"Well, if your healin' factor goes to hell, he can just touch you and heal stuff up for you until it kicks back in."

"Huh. I didn't think about that." I grinned. "Ok, it's a deal. I'll let the doc know tomorrow. You might have to skip a couple classes."

"Oh the horror." She said dryly. "I'm gonna miss math. Shoot me now."

"You've been hangin' around Angela too much."

She laughed then stood up and gave me a quick hug before going in search of her boyfriend. I sat back and thought about the next day. I finally had a chance to get my whole life back. Sure, there was still a part of me that was afraid of that past, afraid that I'd find out I really was nothing more than an animal. But the not knowing was worse than that by far and I was damn tired of it. Better an animal who knows than a man who doesn't, I say.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I slept uneasily, my dreams filled with images of men in masks hulking over me, cutting open my head and replacing bits of my brain with computer parts and other machines. Compared to the old nightmares, they were a breeze to get through. I still woke up sweating but without the yelling that usually happened. I felt Angela stir beside me and I lay back down.

"Sorry 'bout that, darlin'." I whispered. "Didn't mean to wake you."

"S'ok lover." She mumbled, snuggling into me. "If I knew someone was gonna be digging through my head in a couple hours, I'd have bad dreams too."

"You still sure you wanna be in there while they do this?"

"I'll kill anyone who tries to keep me out of there."

"You're so sweet." I said with a chuckle.

"I try."

We drifted back off to sleep and I managed to get through the rest of the night without any more nightmares. Chuck had cancelled most of the classes we normally teach for the day, knowing I'd be in no condition to teach afterwards and that Angela probably would kill anyone who tried to keep her away from me. The Beta team kids were taking over the defense classes for the middle level students while the potential Delta team took the youngest kids over for them. So really, the only classes anyone would be missing were the strategy and tactics courses, which were only offered to the kids who wanted to be X-Men anyway. This meant that Angela and I got to sleep in a little, which was a luxury we usually didn't allow ourselves. Of course, "sleep in" is a relative term. Sure, we were in bed, but we weren't really sleeping.

She never said anything to me, but I could tell she was afraid that something might go wrong in there and I'd either come out wrong or not make it all. I was reluctant to give her any reassurance, because I honestly didn't know what might happen either. We were all in uncharted territory here and everyone in the mansion from the Professor down to the newest students had their own fears about this thing. But it was something I had to do and no one tried to talk me out of it.

Angela and I emerged from our room about an hour before I had to be downstairs and we met Rogue and Josh for breakfast. They were also excused from classes for the day, just in case I needed Rogue to do her thing or if we needed Josh for any reason at all. Having him around for this would make both of my favorite women feel better, so I was all for it. I wasn't actually allowed to eat because of the surgery, but I was too jumpy to be alone. I noticed that Angela wasn't really eating either, which told me she was more afraid than she'd let on. Rogue at least managed some toast and jam, but I knew she was holding on by a thread as well. The smell of fear coming off the both of them was almost overwhelming and I was amazed that Josh couldn't smell it too. Angela finally gave up any pretense of eating and just held my hand under the table, resting her head on my shoulder. I leaned over and kissed her on top of the head, squeezing her hand to try and reassure her a little. A few minutes later, we all stood up and went down to the infirmary.

As we walked through the doors, I noticed that the entire room had been transformed from a general infirmary to a high-tech operating theater. Equipment that I didn't have names for was set up all around an operating table in the center of the room, with Drs. Gilford and Endicott busying themselves checking and rechecking everything. Another man was in there that I'd not seen before and he was introduced to me as the anesthesiologist. "Just call me Jim," he said as shook my hand. I was led away by Dr. Endicott to be prepped while Dr. Gilford explained everything to Angela.

"It's a fairly simple procedure, usually." I overheard from the next room, where I was told to strip and put on one of those ugly hospital gowns. I raised an eyebrow at Dr. Endicott who simply crossed her arms and gave me a look that told me I had nothing she hadn't seen before. I scowled back, but did as she said while I eavesdropped on Dr. Gilford. He explained everything to her that he'd told me the day before, sparing nothing and making sure it was understood that he made no promises about my memory coming back afterwards. Dr. Endicott took my vitals, made notes on a clipboard then led me back out to the main infirmary.

"…And that's all I can promise." Dr. Gilford finished as I came back in.

"I understand." Angela replied, already wearing a gown of her own and a cap had been placed over her hair. "Just show me where I'll be sitting and we can get this over with." He gestured to a chair that sat to the left of the table and she took it as I was positioned on the table. "Hey lover. You ready for this?"

"No." I replied with a slight tremor in my voice. "But I'm gonna do it anyway."

She smiled and squeezed my hand. Dr. Gilford cleared his throat and we both looked at him. "What?" She asked.

"Why are the children in here?"

"Contingency plan. Just in case Jim here can't find something that works on him."

"And what exactly does this 'contingency plan' entail?"

Angela explained the nature of Rogue and Josh's mutations and how we planned to use them if we had to. Dr. Gilford looked like he was going to protest, but Dr. Endicott held up a hand to stop him. "No, David, that's actually brilliant." She said. "I've done a bit of work with Josh here and so far, we haven't found anything he can't heal. He could make us obsolete. Hell, so could Logan and Angela, if we could figure out how to replicate their healing factors."

"Very well." He pointed to the two students. "You two, go with Dr. Endicott and she'll show you how to scrub up. You will wait over there," he pointed to the other side of the room, "until I call you. And I may not have to, understand? And no matter what happens, no matter what you hear, you are not to move unless I call you. Ok?" Rogue gave him a scowl so like mine that Angela burst out laughing. I knew she'd rather be sitting next to my woman the whole time, but I nodded to let her know it was all right and she went with the doctor to scrub up. After what felt like days, we finally got underway. Jim started an IV, "Just in case", he said. Then the fun began. In case it's not obvious, that was sarcasm.

I'd been warned that there'd be some trial and error when it came to the anesthetic, but I'd also warned the doctors that I adapted pretty quickly to anything and there would need to be adjustments on the fly. I hoped Jim was up to the task. Since this was technically brain surgery, I had to be awake for the whole thing, so they were going to use a local anesthetic of some variety. I gripped Angela's hand every time he tried something new and I could feel her metal bones grinding against one another every time I did. To her credit, she didn't even wince; she just smiled and squeezed back. After about a dozen tries, he found one that worked. Acting quickly, he gave me what he said was "technically a massive overdose" of the stuff and Dr. Gilford got to work.

Unlike the probe that Dr. Endicott had done previously, all I felt this time was a lot of pressure. It felt like someone was trying to fill my entire sinus cavity with concrete or something and for some reason, it made me think of Deathstrike and how I'd killed her. I grunted and shuddered a little, squeezing Angela's hand again. I tried really hard not to look at what the doctors were doing. It was disturbing enough to just think about without having to see it too.

Less than half an hour later, the anesthetic was still holding and Dr. Gilford said "I've got it." He glanced over at a monitor, which I was told had the visual of the chip on it via a tiny camera that was inserted when they went in so he knew where he was going. "You ready, Logan?" I nodded slightly. "Ok, your friend Buzz worked all night getting me a schematic of this chip. I'm going to send a pretty hefty jolt to it and try to overload the battery. This might hurt." I nodded again and he did it.

Pain like nothing I've felt before exploded in my head and I screamed. I heard Rogue gasp across the room and heard Josh as he calmed her down. I had thought the adamantium bonding process was the worst thing I'd ever felt, but this was much different. For one thing, it was localized and my vision was obscured in a red haze for a moment. Angela had told me that she saw everything in red whenever she went feral and I gritted my teeth to hold back the animal. I didn't want to gut this poor guy before he had a chance to finish. After a few moments, the pain subsided to a dull ache.

"Fascinating." Dr. Gilford mumbled under his breath as he watched the monitor.

"What's that?" Angela asked, peering at the screen.

"Oh, his healing factor." He replied, looking more closely at the image. "I knew there was a possibility of some residual effects to the surrounding brain tissue, but it's healing over. I've never seen anything like it."

"I told you I'd be all right, Doc." I said through gritted teeth. "Now did zottin' it work or are you gonna start cuttin'?"

He looked closely at the screen, his eyes narrowed in what seemed to be a frown. He then consulted something hanging next to the monitor then went back to the screen and frowned again. After repeating this for about ten minutes, he looked at me. "Well, I don't think that worked. So I'll have to try and remove it. How's the anesthetic holding up?"

"Seems to be fine. Don't worry about me. Just get this thing outta me already!"

"Have you ever been told you're a terrible patient?"

"All the time."

He chuckled and went back to work. About five minutes later, my healing factor finally took care of the anesthetic and I screamed again, clenching Angela's hand so tight she gritted her teeth. "Uh, Jim? Time to try somethin' else." I said in a tight voice.

"On it." He replied quickly and Dr. Gilford moved aside to let him work. Again, he went through several options before admitting defeat. "Sorry man. I don't have anything that'll work on you."

I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded. Dr. Gilford let out a sigh, sounding resigned. "Rogue? Josh? You're up."

I heard the sound of shuffling feet and Angela stood up to let Rogue take her place. "Hey Logan. I'll try not to peek at your really private stuff, ok?"

"Sure kid. Just do it." She nodded and peeled off her glove, twining her fingers with mine. I had just enough time to give her a reassuring smile before her mutation kicked in. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like when she imprinted. It's hard to describe it, really. How do you put into words what it feels like to have your very life drawn out of you? At any rate, she had enough control to know when she'd done all she needed to do and I blacked out.

When I came to, I was hooked to a couple different monitors, Angela sleeping in the chair next to me with her head on my shoulder. I reached over to stroke her hair and she woke up. She took my hand and smiled at me. "Hey lover. How you feeling?"

"Fantastic." I said, my voice weak. "Did it work?"

"Yeah. Freaked Dr. Gilford and Jim out right and proper, they thought you were having a seizure. But Josh was great, he stopped the bleeding and they got the chip out. Wanna see it?"

"You kept it? Morbid much?"

"The Professor wants to send it to a colleague of his, a Dr. Hank McCoy, so he can study it. We know there are other active operatives out there. If we can find them and help them like we helped Totem, knowing how they work can make it easier on the next one."

"What if they don't want to be helped?"

"Then you and I will find them and take care of them."

Before I could answer, Dr. Gilford appeared next to the bed. "So, it seems my fears were unfounded. Josh didn't even have to do much more than control the bleeding. Once I got that chip out, he even jump started your healing factor."

"Great." I said. "Can I go now?"

"Not yet. I still have a few tests I have to do. It's standard procedure, even if you're not a standard patient."

I sighed and scowled at him. "Fine. Do what you gotta do. But as soon as you're done, I'm outta here."

"I figured as much." He chuckled. He checked my vitals, eyes, reflexes, motor skills and asked me a bunch of stupid questions. Twenty minutes later, he declared me the worst patient he'd ever had and told me I could go, with instructions to call him if I experienced any loss of vision, headaches, nausea or any loss of memory besides what I was used to. I jokingly told him that I wouldn't know if I forgot something, since I would have forgotten it. He looked less than amused.

All told, I was out for a day and half. Rogue was thrilled that I was all right, though the rest of the mansion was far from pleased that we'd had to resort to the contingency plan. I finally got to witness what she was like with my "more charming" personality traits and I thought it was funny as all hell. Everywhere I went there were grumbles about it, but her inner me eventually faded and they only had to deal with one of me.

A week later, I still hadn't remembered anything new but the doctor had told me it might take some time before anything came back, if it ever did. I just threw myself back into my regular routine of defense, strategy and tactics classes, Danger Room with the teams and making love to my woman every chance I got. My life was finally pretty good for a change and even if I never remembered the life before Alkali Lake, what I had now was enough.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** Ok, still no action...i'm saving that for the next chapter...:) In case you were interested, there's only 4 chapters to go...i may slow down the updates to one every 3 days til i leave for vacation, just to keep you in suspense...yeah, i think i'll do that...:)

Just in case you were interested, me and a couple of the other writers here at FFN have started our own discussion forum...if you want to come hang out with us, check out my profile for the address or send me a PM...:)

Special thanks to all the people i usually thank...i'm very tired today, so i'm being lazy...but i still want reviews! I promise, there will be happy dancing!


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer:** I wish i owned Logan...but if i did, i wouldn't want to share him at all...so i guess it's a good thing that i don't...however, i do own Angela, Buzz, Sam, Totem and Chasca, along with a few other periperal characters that pop up from time to time...so don't touch them, they don't like it!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 18

(Angela)

Halloween came and went with its usual fanfare. The older kids somehow convinced Buzz to run the RnR program in the Danger Room for a bit of a party while the younger kids played games in the lounge under the watchful eyes of Sam and Scott. What I hadn't expected was the "guys night out" that ensued after the festivities. It seems that Logan owed Sam a beer from their Danger Room session that left Logan a little dented, so they decided to go after the Halloween party was over and the kids were all tucked away. After begging, pleading, cajoling and finally signing over his life in blood, I reluctantly let him borrow my car so they could settle the debt. Kurt and Scott went with them, which left me upset that I wasn't a guy. I like beer as much as the next person and it would have been worth it to see if Scott could unbend enough to enjoy one beer, much less the dozens I knew my lover could put away.

Nonetheless, I couldn't sleep a wink until I knew my baby was home safe and sound and I don't mean Logan. He could survive just about anything. My baby was merely steel, glass, rubber and leather and far less resilient. I hated letting anyone else behind the wheel and I was deathly afraid that Scott would try to be the "designated driver" as an excuse to drive her. As it turns out, I needn't have worried.

I didn't realize that Sam and Logan would give each other such a run for the money in the drinking department. I knew Logan's tolerance was legendary, since his healing factor treats alcohol like any other toxin and he throws it off as soon as he drinks it. I also knew Sam had an extremely elevated metabolism as part of his mutation. He would have to, since it seems like he was always eating yet he never gained a pound. I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen him without a bag of chips or a sandwich in his hand, munching away. I hadn't realized that it extended to alcohol as well.

When they finally returned home, it was a little after three in the morning. I could hear Kurt laughing and mumbling something in German, Logan laughing at whatever he was saying and Sam grumbling to himself. I padded into the foyer and gasped when I saw the state they were in.

"I hope this doesn't have anything to do with my car." I said in all seriousness. Sam was sporting a black eye and there was a smear of blood on Logan's forehead. Kurt was limping slightly and there was a bruise on his cheekbone, appearing as a darker blue spot on his indigo skin. Scott was out like a light with a similar bruise on his cheek.

"No darlin', your baby is just fine." Logan said, pulling me into his arms.

"So what's up with all the bruising?"

It took me about half an hour to pry the story out of Logan and Kurt, with Sam joining in some time after he poured Scott into bed. It seems that they found themselves a bar that served good import beer, but still had that redneckity atmosphere that Logan's drawn to for some ungodly reason. Since it was Halloween, no one looked twice at Kurt or Scott, just figuring they were in costume or whatever. Everything had been fine until someone stepped on Kurt's tail.

Scott had already been several sheets to the wind by that time, which I'm sure was directly related to testosterone poisoning. Not wanting to be seen as a lightweight, he'd tried to keep up with the other three, who had either a racial or mutation advantage in the drinking department. Scott was no better than a normal human at holding his liquor, but apparently gave it the old college try. They'd just finished a round and it was Kurt's turn to get the next one when Scott fell off his chair, totally passed out. They'd barely gotten out of their seats to leave when a guy roughly the size of a Mack truck stepped on Kurt's tail. The combination of many beers and being startled caused him to bamf a few feet away and Mr. Mack Truck turned on him.

"Fuckin' muties!" He'd yelled, bearing down on Kurt with clenched fists. Logan instinctively went on the defensive, clenching his own fists in preparation to pop his claws. However, Sam merely put an arm across his chest to stop him. "Let me." He'd said, standing between Kurt and the would-be assailant. If I closed my eyes, I could almost see it as he described the scene…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_"Let me." Sam said, restraining Logan from dealing with this asshole personally. He stepped up to the guy, towering over him by at least fifteen inches. "My friend, this is a fight you simply can not win. Walk away."_

_"Fuck you!" The guy retorted, his breath reeking of whisky and cheap cigars. "Fuckin' mutie lover! We don't like freaks around here!"_

_"Really? I would think with a face like that, they'd be more than used to them by now." Logan snorted with laughter behind Sam. He'd never known the giant had it in him. The guy sputtered with anger and took a swing at Sam's face. His fist never connected, as Sam simply grabbed his hand in mid-swing and squeezed. A sound like twigs breaking filled the room and the guy cried out in pain. Sam released his broken hand and crossed his arms. "Now, my friends and I are going to leave here and we'll forget this ever happened, all right?"_

_Unfortunately, tactics like this only work in movies and the trio found themselves surrounded by many angry bar patrons, all of which were looking at them with pure hatred. "Fuckin' hell." Logan muttered, once again clenching his fists. "Angela's gonna kill me."_

_"Not if they kill us first." Kurt replied. "I have a bad feeling about this."_

_No one had a chance to say anything else as the mob descended upon them. Logan let out a roar and waded into the three drunks in front of him, fists flying, eyes blazing. Kurt was using his acrobatic skills to dodge the guys in front of him, his tail acting as an extra limb to grab one person and toss them into someone else. Sam was barely moving, using well-placed flicks of his hands to simply throw people across the room, just hard enough to disable them. It was around then that Scott decided to wake up again._

_"What the hell you guysh think yer doin'?" He slurred, stumbling into a drunken attacker. Without thinking, he pushed the guy aside and grabbed Logan by the sleeve of his flannel shirt. "Logan, what you call thish?"_

_"DUCK!" Logan yelled and Scott gave him a confused look. Logan simply pushed him to the floor, where he landed with an audible "thud". At the same time, Logan grabbed the wrist of a guy who was wielding a broken beer bottle and had come mere centimeters from slicing Cyclops across his scalp. With a roar, he took the bottle away from the guy and tossed it aside, laying the guy out with an elbow to his nose. Scott stumbled to his feet and looked around in dismay. "Damn it, Cyke! Get your ass down!" Logan shouted. "You're no good right now!"_

_"Yesh I am!" He yelled back, wavering in place. "I'll take on all theshe fuckin' bashtardsh!" Logan was so shocked by hearing Scott say "fuck" that he left himself open just long enough to take a flying bottle to the forehead. This shook him out of his reverie and he leapt back into the fray, cutting a swath through the crowd to the point of origin of the flying bottle._

_In the meantime, Kurt was leading a pair of particularly insistent foes on a merry chase through the bar, bamfing and reappearing behind them to land punches and kicks to the backs of their heads. On several occasions, the two found themselves the unfortunate victims of friendly fire, finally succumbing to a flying chair and a thrown beer mug respectively._

_Sam had decided enough was enough and had started grabbing people at random, punching them in the face to knock them out and moving on to the next person. At one point, he grabbed Logan, who checked his own fist just before he shattered Sam's nose. They grinned at each other and jumped back into action, making quick work of the remaining patrons._

_Through it all, Scott stood there and tried in vain to engage someone in the brawl before finally passing out again, flat on his face._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I was in tears by the time the story was done, laughing so hard that oxygen was starting to become an issue. "So, you're telling me that the bruise on Scott's face is where he FELL on it?" I managed to squeak out between gales of laughter.

"Ja, mein freund." Kurt replied, grinning. "Ve had forgotten him in all the excitement and vhen ve looked for him, he vas face down on the floor."

That set me off again and it took several more minutes for me to calm down. "Oh gods! Oh he is so never hearing the end of this!"

"Now, be nice to him Angela." Sam said mildly. "The poor guy doesn't get out much."

"Try not at all." Logan muttered under his breath.

"Ah, don't sweat it." I said, still giggling. "I won't pick on him…much." Sam just glared at me and I gave him my best "sweet and innocent" look. "Ok, ok, I surrender! I promise I won't pick on him for at least a week. After that, I make no promises."

"I'm holding you to that." Sam replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something I need to finish downstairs."

I watched him until the elevator door closed then turned back to the others. "I should be very angry with you." I said, crossing my arms.

"Now why would you want to do somethin' like that tiger?" Logan rumbled, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me close to nibble on my ear. I shuddered. "We were just defendin' ourselves."

"And Scott." Kurt added. "He vas unable to defend himself, after all."

"That's why I should be angry with you." I replied, pushing away from Logan. "It's not like he stood a chance at keeping up with you guys. Especially if you were drinking good beer."

"You think I vould drink that stuff you Americans call beer?" Kurt scoffed with a snort. "I vould not be caught dead vith an American beer!"

"Don't mind her, elf. She's got better taste than that." Logan said, nuzzling me again. "Wouldn't even sell it in the bar she owned back in Detroit."

"Damn straight." I muttered. "I had a reputation to protect."

"I knew there vas a reason ve got along so vell." Kurt said with a grin. "But I think ve vill have to continue this conversation later. The Volverine looks like he vants to ruin your reputation."

I didn't have a chance to reply before Logan swept me over his shoulder and carried me off towards our room, waving over his shoulder to Kurt. I could hear him laughing as he made his way back to his own room. I giggled and made some weak protests at him for carrying me off like a caveman, but he just grunted playfully and tightened his hold. Once at our room, he shoved the door open and carefully tossed me down on the bed, pausing just long enough to close and lock the door before pouncing. He held me down and feathered kisses up my neck, tracing a path to my mouth. He kissed me hard enough to make me gasp, but I melted into him just the same. When he stopped, I was breathless.

"Damn, I should let you get into bar fights all the time." I whispered with a half smile. "I'm really liking the after effects."

"Mm, this is just the beginning." He growled and proceeded to slowly undress me, kissing every inch of flesh as it was exposed. Everywhere he touched felt like it was on fire, but he kept holding back, teasing me until I was on the verge of begging. After what felt like hours, he stood and peeled off his own clothes, tossing them aside and stretching out on top of me. I wrapped myself around him and he looked deep into my eyes, one hand cupping my face and stroking my lips with his thumb. "I love you." He said then proceeded to show me how much.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Less than a week later, the weather took a turn for the worse and the kids were all driven inside by the unseasonably cold weather. Neither of us had ever experienced winter at the mansion and after two days of putting up with the din we were quite ready to go mad. I blame it on our basic feral natures; we instinctively wanted to hibernate and that requires quiet. Logan blamed it on cabin fever, since he had spent fifteen years on the constant move and was never cooped up in one place for too long before coming here. Either way, the combination of teen angst and hormones was certainly a crazy-making combination for us.

At least we still had Danger Room sessions with the teams that we could use to vent some aggression. Both Alpha and Beta teams had finally passed our worst-case scenario by taking out Logan and I with a minimum of fuss and no serious casualties to either team. I'm sure at least some of it was because Buzz had watched extensive footage of the two of us in the Danger Room, both solo and with teams and had programmed the scenario with a virtual Hellcat and Wolverine that acted and reacted just like we did. It was a beautiful piece of programming and I suspect that he'd been slowly upgrading the system. The AI was far more clever than it had been in the spring, not that I'm complaining. At any rate, I think as soon as the teams knew they wouldn't be attacking the real us, they managed to get past their mental blocks against hurting us to dish it out the way we wanted them to. Still, I toyed with the idea of running it the old way one more time, just to see if my theory held water, but I could hold out on that for a while. It was enough to see that they could do it.

Another thing that happened was the end of the mystery of Storm's secret admirer. She'd continued to receive small gifts every couple of days, little things that made her smile. Between me, her and Rogue, we still had no clue who it could be. Rogue thought it might be Scott, but it didn't feel right to me. I know Scott loves Storm, but that's more of a sibling relationship than a romantic one and I just didn't see it happening. But the mystery solved itself the morning that Scott finally felt ready to go back to Alkali Lake.

Having Sam around had been exactly the cure that Scott needed to work through his grief. I had no idea they'd been that close during their school days. Apparently there had been an incident at one point that Logan had gotten the bare bones story about. The whole thing was a little more complicated. It seems that Sam had had a crush on a fellow classmate (he wouldn't say who) and his roommate had gotten wind of it. Boys being boys, the guy started to pick on Sam about it and eventually Sam put him through the wall. The roommate? None other than Alex Summers, Scott's brother. You would think that after an incident like that, it would make them instant enemies. But Scott had also been on the receiving end of Alex's taunting when he first started dating Jean, so he understood just how Sam felt. After an initial confrontation outside the infirmary, the two of them became pretty fast friends. Once Alex woke up and apologized, the three of them became pretty close. Alex was in the Air Force now and had only been able to get a few days leave after Jean's death, leaving Scott feeling pretty alone in his grief.

I was still confused about that. After all, Storm and Charles had cared a great deal for Jean as well, but he hadn't felt comfortable talking to either one of them about it. I know if anything ever happened to Logan, I'd probably turn to Rogue first for comfort, since I know she'd be feeling just about as crappy as me at that point. Apparently Scott didn't believe the old adage that grief shared is grief halved and didn't want to add to the grieving of his two closest friends at the mansion. Either way, it didn't matter anymore because he finally felt it was time to go back to Alkali Lake and say goodbye to her.

Sam was going with him, which I pretty much figured would happen. They'd spent a lot of time together just talking, remembering things they'd done or pranks they'd pulled on their classmates. But mostly they'd talked about Jean, how Scott had fallen in love with her at first sight, but she'd been reluctant to admit any feelings for him for a long time. From what I gather, he'd been quite the charmer, wooing her the old-fashioned way with gifts of flowers, long walks at sunset and the whole nine yards. She'd eventually realized that holding back on him was plain dumb and they'd been together until the day she paid the ultimate price to save those she loved best.

Storm and I were waiting in the hangar bay for them to show up, both of us wanting to give Scott support for different reasons. She was there because he's her friend, her brother and they both loved Jean for a very long time. Mine were a lot different, because Alkali Lake is the only grave the people we loved the most will ever have. Scott knew this and would understand. After about fifteen minutes they finally showed up.

"Angela, Ororo, have you come to see us off?" Sam said with his irrepressible grin.

"You know we have, big guy." Storm replied with a smile of her own. She boarded the jet with him to help him through the pre-flight routine.

"Angela, thanks for coming." Scott said quietly.

"I had to." I murmured. "I understand how hard this is for you, more than anyone else possibly can." A sudden lump formed in my throat and I had to fight back tears. "After all, my best girl is there too."

We just looked at each other for a second before moving into each others arms. There was nothing romantic about the gesture, but a sharing of pain that he hadn't done yet. For that matter, neither had I, not really. I'd gone to Alkali Lake alone to say goodbye to my daughter, since I'd had no one to go with me. Perhaps I would have to go back someday with Logan and do it all over again. Right now, it wasn't time. This was Scott's time and he deserved to do this under his own terms. We stood there for a few minutes, needing no words to understand the other. He let me go a little reluctantly and gave me a weak smile. "Thanks for everything, Angela. I owe you…well, more than one, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do." I said, running my fingers through my hair. "And you don't. Owe me one or however many, that is. You've given me so much here, I'm the one who owes somebody something."

"We'll figure it out when I get back, ok?" I nodded and he reached over and gripped my shoulder for a second before boarding the jet. A few minutes later, Storm came out and the ramp went up, which was our cue to get out of the hangar. Once in the hallway, she turned to me and I was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"Storm, you ok?" I asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied, wiping her eyes. "It's just…I wish I could go with them, you know? Say my last goodbyes too."

"You'll go back when it's your time. This is his, let him have it." She nodded and we made our way back upstairs. As we parted in the hallway to go to our own rooms, I was stopped by a sound of surprise that she made. I retraced my steps and met up with her outside her bedroom door, where there was a fairly large box wrapped in white paper on the floor, a card taped to the top. "What's that?"

"I don't know." She bent over and tried to pick it up and grunted with the effort. "But it's heavy. Figures my mystery man would leave me a big heavy thing when Sam's gone. I'll have to find Piotr."

"Will I do?" We both turned towards Logan as he came into the hallway.

"Yeah, I think you can handle it." Storm said. She opened her bedroom door as Logan hefted the package off the floor. We all went in and I stopped for a moment to look around. I'd never been in her room, but it was decorated pretty much the way I thought it would be, a combination of native African art and nature prints on the walls, hand woven rugs on the floors and fresh flowers next to her bed. On top of the dresser stood the various gifts she'd received over the past couple of weeks, except for the flowers, which had been carefully dried and sat in a vase that looked to be one of Sam's pieces. She cleared a space on her desk and Logan set the box down and stood back.

She didn't make a move to open it for a long moment and the anticipation was killing me. Logan shifted in place, his impatience showing more than mine. "Ro? You plannin' on openin' that thing or are we gonna stand here and wait to see if I can ever die of old age?" He quipped.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I'm almost afraid to open it." She replied, staring at the box.

"Why? It ain't tickin' and it don't smell funny, so whatever's in there ain't gonna kill you."

"Come on, Storm!" I said. "You know who it's from! So maybe now we'll KNOW who it's from."

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of." She whispered, then shrugged and removed the card. She opened it then handed it to me. It had a picture of a perfect sunset on the beach on the front, but the inside had only three words written in it: "Now you'll know". My curiosity was piqued, that's for sure.

I handed it over to Logan and watched as she tore the paper off and carefully opened the box. She looked inside and gasped, her hands coming to her mouth. After a moment, she turned to Logan with a smile. "Hey, can you lift this out for me?" She asked and he moved forward without hesitation. I saw his shoulders shaking and I knew he was laughing at what he saw. He carefully removed whatever was in there and stood back. I gasped, then laughed myself.

It was a statue, unmistakably Sam's work, of Storm in full flight, her hair and cape flowing behind her. It was worked mostly in alabaster, except the base, which appeared to be blue glass or crystal and had a slight curve to it. On closer inspection, there was a pair of hands on either side of the base and I realized they represented Sam. After all, his code name IS Atlas.

"I'll be damned!" I said, still laughing. "And all this time we thought it might be Scott!"

"You girls are pretty thick, you know that?" Logan replied and we both turned to glare at him. "Hell, I've known for weeks it had to be Sam."

I smacked him on his shoulder as hard as I could and he flinched. "And you didn't say anything? You are in so much trouble, mister."

"Hey! It wasn't my place to say anythin'! Besides, it was funny watchin' the three of you try an' figure it out."

"How did you know?" Storm asked, running her fingers over the sculpture.

Logan lifted a finger to the spot on his head that Sam had inadvertently dented a few weeks prior. "Danger Room. I wanted to see what he could do and I tricked him into a session. He stood back and let me take down the virtual Iceman without a second glance. But as soon as I took down the virtual Storm, he went berserk, almost as bad as I do. That's how I got this." He shook his head and stuck a cigar in his mouth. "I ain't stupid, ya know. I did the math."

"Rogue is gonna flip her lid!" I laughed. "I don't think Sam's name came up as a serious candidate in all the speculation." I looked at Storm, who was still running inspecting her sculpture. "Did it?"

"He always was something of a romantic." She replied with a smile. "In fact, a lot of the things Scott did to get Jean were his ideas. I'm pretty dense not to have remembered that when the gifts started coming."

"Yeah well, love can make you do the crazy." I whispered and glanced at Logan. "But the real question here is, what are YOU going to do about it?"

She stood there silent for a moment before turning to me. "I think that you and I need to go shopping and talk to the cook. I believe a nice, romantic dinner in the rose garden is in order as soon as he gets back."

I squealed with delight and hugged her. "Storm, this is so great! We have so much to plan!"

"Which you can start on tomorrow." Logan said and grabbed me around the waist. "I think we'll leave her alone right now to take this all in."

"You're right, I know. I'm just so excited!" I hugged Storm again and was a little surprised when Logan hugged her too. He'd really changed a lot over the past months and it lightened my soul to see him opening up to other people. We said goodnight and made our way back to our room. I locked the door behind us and stripped down to my tank top and panties before climbing under the covers. Logan sat heavily on the foot of the bed and pulled off his boots, then sighed and just sat there. When he didn't move for a couple minutes, I sat back up. "Lover, are you ok?"

"Do you ever wish I was more like that?" He asked, looking over his shoulder. "Like Sam, with all the flowers and stuff?"

"What? No! Why would you think that?"

"Well, you're a woman and I always though women kinda expected all that stuff."

"Logan, I fell in love with you in the least romantic setting I can think of. I don't need you to give me things to prove how much you love me back. You've already given me the most important thing and that's enough for me."

"Darlin', all I've given you is action, mayhem and bloodshed, a lot of it yours."

I slid forward and wrapped my arms around him. "That's not true. You also gave me a ring, a little stone cat and you brought my car back to me. But none of that matters compared to this." I placed my hand over his heart, feeling the steady beat of it beneath my palm. "You gave me your heart, twice now, and I know it wasn't easy for you either time. You gave me your trust and your love. What more could a girl possibly want?"

He turned and kissed me, burying his hands in my hair. "I love you, Angela. I'll never leave you. I'm yours, forever."

"Me too, lover. Now come here and love me right and proper."

He did.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** Three chapters to go...are you excited:) Special thanks to everyone i usually thank...i'm being lazy again today...:) Now review already!


	19. Interlude and Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:** If it's not Angela, Sam, Chasca, Totem or Buzz, then it's not mine...as for the ones who are, they're very antisocial and don't play well with others...so do not approach, to do so may cause harm...:)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Interlude: Alkali Lake

A flock of birds burst into sudden flight with the appearance of a sleek black jet landing in a clearing near the tree were they roosted. A few moments later, a ramp opened in the back and two men walked out. One was extremely tall, over seven feet and well muscled. The other was over a foot shorter and sported a pair of sunglasses with red lenses. They seemed to be in a rather subdued mood, neither one paying much attention to the majestic scenery of the Canadian Rockies. They carried little with them, having left their packs and supplies in the jet. The shorter of the two carried a small box with him as well as a bouquet of blood red roses. The taller held what appeared to be a sketchbook and a bouquet of his own, white lilies. Without speaking, they made their way through the forest to the edge of a massive lake.

This lake had been here for some time, although just a year ago it had mostly been contained behind a huge dam. It was unclear to those who knew about this place exactly what had happened, but the dam had given out and flooded the valley below. Some of the people in nearby towns speculated that the government had blown the dam on purpose. Still others believed that it had just finally given up. A small minority blamed it on mutants. They were the most correct, though not for the reasons they thought.

The shorter man made his way to a rocky outcropping that gave him an unhindered view of the entire lake. He swallowed hard as he stood there, his eyes resting on a spot just below him. His companion moved down the shore a few hundred yards, giving his friend the privacy he needed for the task at hand. He walked to the water's edge and carefully placed the lilies in the water, watching as the current carried them out towards the center of the lake. A moment later, he opened his sketchbook to capture the rest of the scene as it unfolded.

The shorter man knelt on the rocks and carefully opened the box he held. Inside was a photograph of him with a strikingly beautiful redhead, both of them laughing at something happening off-camera. Also inside was ring, white gold with a large diamond surrounded by six smaller stones. The last thing was an envelope made of a thick, creamy parchment. Written on the outside was a short phrase, "Jean, my love".

The man fingered the envelope for a moment before speaking. "Jean, I miss you. It's been almost eight months since I lost you. It's been really hard, but I'm trying, I really am." His voice caught in his throat and tears started to make their way down his cheeks. He brushed them away and continued. "There's this new mutant at the school, Angela. You'd have liked her, she's a lot like you in a lot of ways. She's someone that knew Logan way back when and believe it or not, they're totally in love with each other. Always have been." He fell silent for a moment, gazing at the photo in his hands. "Anyway, Logan told me that in the end, you chose me. I'm so sorry I ever doubted you for even a second. But I was fooled by my eyes when I should have listened to my heart the whole time." He chuckles bitterly. "I guess that Logan isn't as dumb as I wanted to believe. And Angela, she's been a big help, even if she likes to tell the whole truth all the time. Things are getting bad out here, Jean. You wouldn't like what the world is coming to. Angela's been training the kids with Logan and you'd be so proud of them. We have two full teams now and a third one ready to step up. By the time she's done with them, we'll have an army. We'll be able to protect everyone."

He wipes away a few more tears and gazes over the water, his eyes falling on the bouquet of lilies floating out there. "She also figured out I needed more than just Storm and the Professor to help me out with mourning you. Remember Sam Levison? Atlas? He's been at the mansion the past few weeks. I don't know how she did it, but she talked him into coming out just for me. I have a feeling he'll be staying, though. She likes to tell him the truth, too and I think it's finally dawned on him that he can't hide forever. He's fighting it, like he fights everything else, but she'll wear him down." He swallows hard again, no longer bothering to wipe away his tears. "I think he's kind of taken with Storm. It's sweet, really. I know he had a crush on her back when we were still students, but he was always so afraid to act on it. I hope he'll get the nerve to say something to her when we get home."

The man stands up and tosses the roses into the water. "Anyway, that's why I came back here, to say things to you I should have said before. I always thought there'd be time, you know? I wanted to tell you I'm sorry for being so jealous of Logan. Now that I've met Angela, I know why you reminded him of her, even if he didn't remember it right away. And I wanted you to know that I love you even more today than I did the first day I saw you. I'm always going to love you, no matter what. I'm sorry we never got around to getting married. That's probably my biggest regret, really. And I promise you, I'll live my life as well as I can. I'll do my best to always be someone you can be proud of. I'll see you again, someday, when it's my time. I know you'll be waiting for me." He puts the items back in the box and closes it, snapping the lock shut before dropping it in the water. "I love you, Jean. Goodbye."

He stands there for another moment before turning and walking back to the beach, feeling as though a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders. He knows that he'll never forget Jean, but now he can move on and it doesn't feel like he's betraying her if he does. He walks about half the distance to his friend when it happens.

They're hit simultaneously, the figures moving so quietly that neither one of the men heard them approach. The taller man is taken by surprise by a hard kick to his knee, pain blossoming like fire all through his leg. He goes down hard yet still manages to regain his feet and turn, favoring the injured leg. His assailant has already moved out of range and as he bears down on him, he's suddenly struck in the face by something wet that burns his eyes, effectively blinding him. He's still near enough to the edge of the water that he backpedals until his feet are submerged and plunges his face into the icy lake. Another kick to his knee causes him to fall again, sprawling headfirst into the water. He stands up with a roar and backhands the assailant, sending him flying into a tree fifty feet away. The figure hits the trunk with a jolt and falls to the ground, unconscious.

Meanwhile, the shorter man is under attack by a woman with flaming red curls and brilliant green eyes with slit pupils like a cat. She's incredibly fast, faster than anyone he's ever fought before and he finds himself in a completely defensive position. She lashes out with wickedly sharp claws and teeth, her moves reminiscent of a tiger playing with its prey. His breath comes in sharp gasps, a painful stitch forming in his side as he realizes this is not a fight he can win. He misses a crucial block and she kicks him on the side of his head and he goes down, unconscious.

The taller man turns in time to watch as the woman picks up his friend, carrying him as though he weighs nothing. She runs with him towards the woods and the man goes to pursue her. Before he can take more than a few steps, the man he tossed aside mere moments before stands up and shouts a challenge. He turns to meet it, but hears the distinct sound of a helicopter approaching. The assailant merely smiles and melts into the forest. The tall man attempts to pursue him, but his knee buckles and he falls again to the beach. Dragging himself along the shore, he works his way into the tree line and conceals himself beneath the boughs of a huge evergreen. Moments later, the helicopter lands somewhere in the woods behind him. After a few minutes, it takes off again and disappears into the distance.

The man limps out onto the beach and just barely catches sight of the chopper as it retreats. It appears to be moving due east, though it could turn to the north or south after it's out of sight. Gritting his teeth, he barely manages to limp back to the jet, his sketchbook forgotten on the beach behind him. He finds a first aid kit, which thankfully has several braces and splints in it. He patches up his knee as well as he can, then sits carefully in the pilot's seat and begins the pre-flight routine. He's thankful that he has an eidetic memory and that he'd paid close attention to everything his companion had done on the flight out here. As soon as he's ready to take off, he raises the ramp and picks up the radio to make a very important call.

"Storm, it's Sam." He says. "We have a problem."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 19.

(Logan)

The next morning I had a special training session with Chasca. For some reason, I didn't like the thought of her going into a fight with just her claws and her flying to keep her safe. So, I'd been training her with various weapons and the one she did the best with was the katana. She was a natural with any bladed weapon, but she wielded the katana like it was a part of her. Of course, so could I, but I still had no memory of how or why I could. I kept hoping that something would get jarred loose now that I'd had my chipectomy, but everything was still hidden from me. At any rate, it didn't matter too much. Chasca was a brilliant pupil and it was a pleasure to teach her. We usually started off slow with a kata that was a variant of the tai chi kata we used as a warm up for all training sessions. Once that was done, we switched to actual combat moves, she using a real katana while I used a bokan. We flowed around each other like a pair of dancers, attacking and countering in an endless series of patterns. Angela told me that watching us spar was a thing of beauty and never missed a session if she could help it. I still have a hard time accepting the word "beauty" in any sentence that includes me, but she insisted that it was true and I should just shut up about it. She's the boss.

On this particular day, Totem was in the Danger Room as well, he and Angela standing off to one side and commenting quietly to each other about the fight before them. We had begun incorporating her flying with her sword work, since it is one thing that would give her a tactical and strategic advantage over most opponents. Still, adaptability is one thing that I'm known for and having a flying swordswoman just presented me with new obstacles to overcome. After scoring a few good hits on me, I figured out how to compensate for her advantage and once again had her on the defensive as much as the offensive. An hour later, we were both soaked in sweat and she was ready to call it day. I terminated the program and the four of us exited the Danger Room.

"Logan-san, you have done well with Chasca." Totem said, giving me a little bow. "And you handle the katana with great skill. Tell me, where did you learn it?"

"Bub, your guess is as good as mine." I replied. "Just another one of those things I know without knowin' why."

"So you have not remembered anything new since your operation?"

"Nope, not a damn thing." I shrugged. "It'll come back when it comes back. I ain't gonna worry about it too much."

"I understand. Still, I would be honored if you would spar with me. It has been some time since I had a skilled opponent with the katana."

"Sure. We'll squeeze it in later this week." He bowed again then took Chasca by the hand and the two of them walked off to the elevator. I turned to Angela and she looking at me with a huge grin on her face. "What?"

"A few weeks ago, you'd have said no for fear you'd kill him." She said. "Now you're practically best buds."

"Well, now that all that telepathic compulsion shit is gone, I can deal with him." I replied with a smirk. "How about you? I saw you guys givin' a runnin' commentary in there. A few weeks ago, you'd have either gutted him or fallen all over him like you were in heat."

She smacked me on the shoulder and I laughed. "I never acted like I was in heat around him!" She said as she laughed. "I save that for you."

I pulled her close to me and nuzzled her neck. "Mm, really? Care to prove that?"

"Ew, you're all sweaty!" She protested weakly.

"There's a shower right over there." I pointed out and she chuckled. Without giving her a chance to protest further, I scooped her up and carried her into the locker room, locking the door behind us.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We discovered another thing Chasca could do, though I wasn't sure how to add it to her training. It seems that her saliva also had an anti-coagulant property, lending further weight to her bat-like mutation. I wanted to test it but the Professor was totally against it unless Dr. Endicott was around, just in case. I didn't think it would be a big deal, since I heal from anything. But he was concerned that my healing factor wouldn't recognize it as a toxin as such and wanted to make sure I didn't bleed out or anything. I had classes all day anyway, so we scheduled the test for later that evening when the doctor could come to the mansion.

Buzz had created some strategy and tactics programs for us to use in those classes, so the kids could run scenarios on the computer and try to figure out for themselves what did and did not work in every possible situation. He based the different computer scenarios on the ones he'd done for the Danger Room, so that once they felt they had something that would work, they could play it out real-time in there. If they were successful, they passed. If not, they had to keep trying until they passed. There were no letter grades in this class and precious little in the way of papers to grade. Either they did it right or they didn't, there was no middle ground. Of course, there was more than one way to work each scenario and they were all open to improvisation on the fly. It was (and still is) our belief that flexibility in a combat situation was the only way to keep yourself and your team alive. That had always been One-Eye's biggest downfall. He could run a carefully constructed mission scenario that was letter perfect, but he never left room for improvisation. If there's one thing that Angela and I know better than anyone, it's that plans never survive the first engagement with the enemy. We hoped to teach him that much needed flexibility when he got back with Sam from Alkali Lake in a couple days.

The class in question was Beta team's final exam. After this, as long as they'd passed everything else, they'd be considered full X-Men. A couple of them, like Rogue and Kitty, were planning on continuing here with college level courses until they would be forced to attend a regular university to complete their education. Piotr, Bobby and Jubilee all planned to stay here and teach, the guys would be permanently taking over the defense classes for the twelve and under kids, while Jubilee would be teaching elementary level English and Social Studies. Kyle wasn't interested in teaching, he just wanted to be an X-Man and no one had a problem with that. Since these plans all hinged on their passing this exam, the room was silent as they each worked at their computers trying to find the best way to beat the program. Every step they made, every decision, was logged and sent to the two main computers that Angela and I had in front of us. With a few clicks, we could monitor each kid as they worked or wait until they were done and go over the decisions they made. As each one finished, we excused them and after they were all gone, we settled in to go over the results.

It came as no surprise to us that they all passed. They'd each done the scenario in a slightly different way, but each student had made sound decisions. Jubilee actually showed the best improvisational skills, but Bobby had the most promise in leadership. Piotr was solid in both areas, but didn't excel in either. The rest were perfectly competent, but we agreed that none of them would be comfortable in a leadership role. So, by default, we decided to use those three scenarios in the Danger Room for the second half of the final exam. We left the classroom, only to be jumped by the six of them as soon as we got to the lounge. With a laugh, Angela gave them the good news that they'd passed this part and that the second half would happen in three days, after Scott and Sam returned. They congratulated each other very loudly and we escaped to the patio for a quick smoke.

Angela started shivering almost immediately, so I sat down on one of the iron chairs and gathered her into my lap. She snuggled in and sighed. "How come you're never cold?" She asked.

"Darlin', I'm from Alberta." I replied with a chuckle. "We had a lot more winter up there than we do down here."

"Mm, so it's a Canadian thing?"

"Somethin' like that." We finished our smokes in silence then just sat there, enjoying the quiet for a few minutes. We heard the patio door open and Storm came out to join us. "Hey Storm. What's up?"

"I just heard the good news about Beta team." She said. "They're pretty excited."

"Understatement of the century." Angela replied. "I had no idea that Jubilee had a secondary mutation of 'deafening scream'."

Storm laughed. "It's not that bad. You just have those extra sensitive ears."

"We'll have to remind her to be careful when she's on the communicator in the field. I'd hate to have to gag her in a combat situation."

"Well, I just came out to tell you that you're late for your next class. Delta team is waiting." Angela and I groaned, but we went back inside to the classroom.

Delta team wasn't nearly as far along as Beta in this particular class, although they'd done well enough so far that we felt confident that they could successfully protect the mansion in case something took both Alpha and Beta away for any period of time. We felt even better about it now that Totem and Chasca had joined Jesse, Julian, Jamie and Davey. I was actually glad that Totem was on the team. He didn't heal as fast as I do, but he was a tough combatant and with his adamantium skeleton he was as unstoppable as I am. And with everything we'd done for him to break his conditioning and give him his life back, I knew it would be a matter of honor for him to protect this place in return for that assistance. Deep inside, I knew he'd eventually make full X-Man, if he wanted to.

At any rate, the only reason he was in the class was because it wouldn't be fair to the team if he wasn't. I knew he was trained in all the same stuff Angela and I were, so he usually finished long before the others and would sit and talk with us while the rest of the class finished their assignments. He understood that he had to be there to make it fair, but it was boring for him. We sat there discussed different options for the rest of the team, debating if we should train anyone else with different weapons (like we were with Chasca) or if it would be best to concentrate on their powers. He was all for teaching them weapons work, while I thought that those with a good offensive power (like Davey) wouldn't really need them. We were still arguing the pros and cons of it when Angela cleared her throat rather loudly.

I looked up her with a raised eyebrow. "Whatcha need darlin'?"

"Class has been over for almost ten minutes." She replied with her arms crossed. "Are you planning on helping me grade these or should I let you boys finish your lover's quarrel?"

Totem surprised us both by laughing out loud, then hopping to his feet and bowing low before her. "My deepest apologies, Angela. I will leave you to finish your work." He then turned to me and winked. "I'll see you later, Logan-san."

We watched with our mouths gaping as he swept out of the room. "Who was that and what did they do with the real Totem?" She asked.

"I have no idea." I replied with a smirk. "But it looks like thinkin' for himself is workin' out pretty well."

"I'm sure Chasca is a big help, too."

"Every man needs a good woman." I smirked at her and she slid into my lap, wrapping her arms around me and kissing my forehead. "Mm, you know, we've never…"

"Don't even finish that sentence, Logan." She said as she slid back off my lap. "It's the middle of the day and there's no way I'm going to have sex with you in our classroom!"

"Come on! Where's your sense of adventure?"

"I left it in our room. Now help me grade these."

I grumbled but set to work evaluating the results of the programs. Most of them did pretty well except for Julian, who made a few bad decisions. Technically, he would have passed since his team made it out in more or less one piece. However, there were several injuries and some damage to the surroundings that could have been avoided had he simply changed his tactics a little. After debating the point with Angela, we decided we had to fail him on it and make him run it again later.

Evening finally arrived along with Dr. Endicott. We waited until after dinner to go down to the infirmary with her for the test of Chasca's anti-coagulant, because if I was gonna be down for a few hours, I was doing it on a full stomach. The real trick was getting her pissed off enough to resort to biting me, which I figured wasn't going to be easy. I was right.

Dr. Endicott had never seen me in full sparring mode with anyone, much less in a mode to intentionally make some harm me. She'd seen my healing factor at work, but she'd never seen the rest of what makes me who and what I am. She watched in stunned silence as I attacked Chasca, coming at her with everything I had except the claws. She managed to fend off most of my attacks, but I was still getting through with enough that she was landing some pretty good slashes on me. I managed to grab her from behind and put her in a pretty good hold with my weight shifted back just enough to keep her from tossing me over her shoulder. With only one option left to her, she bit me.

I don't know how this would work on someone who heals slower than I do, but the mark she left on me bled a lot more than a similar wound from someone else. I really didn't want to test this on my woman, since there was a real possibility of her dying from blood loss and even though she comes back I still hate when it happens. Totem wasn't around and I didn't think it would be fair to Chasca to ask her to bite the living shit out of the man she was falling in love with. Still, we had to test the overall area of effect this thing had, so the doctor took a scalpel and made several deep incisions starting at the point of the bite and working outward. As it turned out, it only extended about two inches from the point of the bite mark, but if she bit someone with less of a healing factor than I had (or worse, no healing factor at all), they would suffer serious blood loss if she bit them several times. Very good to know, all told.

The doctor made notes of the experiment and said she wanted to explore this further before leaving. Chasca, Angela and I made our way upstairs to the lounge to relax a bit before going to bed, at least two of us still suffering from the aftereffects of adrenaline. Of course, the lounge was full of kids since it was still too chilly out for them to hang around outside after dinner, so we left Chasca there with her friends and went to the patio instead. I'd barely gotten settled in to enjoy a smoke when Storm came bursting through the patio doors. The look on her face told me all I needed to know.

"What's wrong?" I said, tossing my cigar on the patio.

"It's Sam." She replied, a tremor in voice. "There's been an attack at Alkali Lake."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN: **Hope you're all still enjoying yourselves...:) Only 2 chapters to go after this one...Special thanks to my beta readers, Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel for their constant support and dedication...Extra Special thanks to Turiel for sending me dark chocolate Kit Kat bars to bribe the muse with...:) Super Special thanks to the readers for liking this enough to stick with it...and Extra Super Swanky thanks to the ones who review...without your input, i don't know if it's worth my time to finish the story...:)


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer:** Yep, none of the traditional X-Men belong to me...just the ones i made up...and they're getting ready to go on vacation with me and won't be around for you to play with anyway, so don't bother trying...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 20.

(Angela)

We forced ourselves to walk as calmly as possible to the Professor's office, even though everything in me wanted to run. However, we couldn't alarm the children so we took it slow. Kurt was there ahead of us and the Professor was talking to Sam on the secure radio that we used to communicate with the X-Jet over long distances. Sam sounded beyond frantic, which was understandable if what I heard was true.

"…two of them, came out of nowhere. The one guy hit me with something in the face, blinded me. The other one was a woman, fought better than Angela and she took Scott. I saw a helicopter leave but I don't know where they went and they're not showing up on radar."

"How did you manage to get away?" Charles asked.

"Sheer luck. I think they only had a narrow window to operate within and if they didn't get us both by the time their ride showed up, they had to leave anyway."

"Makes sense." Logan said, his brow furrowed in concentration. "We ran a few ops like that, remember?"

"Yeah, I do." I replied, running my fingers through my hair. "So we're thinking what here?"

"I don't care what you all are thinking." Sam snapped. "I'm thinking that we need to mobilize and find him."

"Agreed." The Professor said in a forceful tone. "I'll get on Cerebro and see if I can't locate him that way. I'll let Angela and Logan decide who will be going in to find him."

"That's easy." I said. "Alpha and Beta teams are both going. If this is what I think it is, we'll need every person we can spare."

Logan leaned in close to me. "You're thinkin' they were from Weapon X, aren't you?" I nodded and he swore under his breath. "Fuck. We ain't ever gonna be free from them, are we?"

"One head at a time, lover." I murmured, remembering my comparison to the mythical hydra. "We'll get them all, one head at a time."

"Sam, will you be ok bringing the jet in or should I have Kurt get me up there when you're on final approach?" Storm asked, clearly worried.

"I'll be fine. I watched everything he did. Eidetic memory comes in handy at times like this." I heard him gasp before he continued. "Have everyone ready to go when I get there. And I want Josh in the hangar too. He'll need to fix up my knee before we leave again."

"Wait, what's this 'we' crap, bub?" Logan asked. "Last time I checked, you weren't on the team."

"Try and stop me, Logan. I'll do more than dent your head. He's my best friend and I'm not leaving him out there!"

"Logan, choose your battles wisely." I whispered. "You can't win this one. Let him come. He's trained, he's strong and he'll walk if he has to. I recognize that tone, you can't talk him out of it."

"But Angela…"

"No buts! He sounds like I did when I came after you. You have to let him do this."

Logan sighed. "Fine, you'll come with us. But you follow orders, got it? No goin' off by yourself."

"That's funny, coming you mein freund." Kurt said. "That's just vhat you did last time ve vere up there."

"Keep the commentary to yourself, bub."

"Listen, I should be back at the mansion within the hour." Sam broke in. "Just be ready when I get there all right?"

"We will be." I said. "Don't worry, we'll find him."

He signed off the radio and I looked around at everyone in the room. With Scott gone, the Alpha team needed a leader. It was a hard question to ask, but that's one of the things I've always been good at, saying what no one else wanted to say. "So. Except for Sam, all of Alpha team is here." I began. "Scott's the de facto leader, but he's our mission objective. Technically, that means that leadership would fall to Storm as the next X-Man in terms of seniority."

"Oh no, I don't want it." She said, hands held up. "I'm not really leader material. Not for something like this."

"All right then. Who do you want then?" All eyes in the room shifted from me to Logan and back again. It was clear they thought one of us would be best in the role, but no one would like what we would do. Not to mention, I had a sinking feeling that whoever led this team would assign the other to Beta. I took the decision out of their hands. "Fine. I say Logan should lead Alpha team. I'll lead Beta." Everyone erupted into protests except the Professor. I'm pretty sure he knew what I was thinking anyway. I put up a hand to forestall them. "Look, it makes sense. This way, each team has someone with them who's prepared to handle someone from Weapon X. Trust me, no one on Beta is prepared to take a life, not yet. It's what I'm trained to do."

"Angela, you can't be serious!" Kurt cried, clearly not liking this decision.

"I'm dead serious Kurt. And if you're not, then you can stay here." He lowered his eyes. "Look, I know how you feel about that. But these people, they're serious. They've been active operatives a lot longer than I was. From what I read in the files, some of them were there before me. They will not stop, they will not hesitate to kill you. They've been with the program all this time. I guarantee they will feel no remorse as they rip your guts out."

"But you got avay, you and Logan both." He said weakly.

"If those people wanted to get away, they would have. We got out because we got lucky, in a really horrible way. Logan was driven all but insane and I grabbed the opportunity to get away." I leaned forward and looked him in the eye. "We got lucky. If you hold back on these people, you won't."

The room fell into an uneasy silence. No one else made any move to protest, so I nodded to Logan and he took over. "All right then. Alpha team is with me, Beta with Angela. Let's get suited up and ready to go."

We all left the office and I went in search of Beta team. They were all still sprawled out in the lounge when I got there. "Beta team!" I barked out. "Suit up! We have things to do!" None of them hesitated in the slightest, they just jumped from their seats and ran to either the elevator or the stairs to get suited up. "Delta team! You're staying here. Your primary mission is to protect the mansion and the Professor. You do whatever he tells you to do. If for some reason he's incapacitated, then Totem's in charge, understood?"

"Do we need to suit up?" Jesse asked, looking a little nervous.

"No, not at this time. If there's a serious threat to the mansion, you get the youngest kids out with at least one senior student per ten kids. Anyone you can't get out, you lock them in the Danger Room and that door does not open until a staff member gives you the all clear and that includes Buzz." I looked at each of them in turn. "Any other questions?" No one spoke up. "Very well. I'm counting on each and every one of you to take care of this place by any means necessary. I'm trusting you to make the right decision if you have to."

I turned and started for the elevator, only to find Totem joining me just before the door closed. "What is it?"

"Angela, why would you leave me in charge?" He asked, looking confused.

"Kyrohyou, Delta team isn't done with their training. The Professor can probably incapacitate an entire squad with his mind alone, but I can't take the chance that someone will get through anyway." I put my hand on his shoulder and gave him a hard look. "You're the only other person who's prepared to do anything to keep this place safe. You made a vow to me to protect me, even at the cost of your own life. Well, I'm asking you as a friend to protect this place." I reached out and grasped his shoulder. "This is my home now. It's yours for as long as you want it. I need you to do this."

He looked at me gravely, then bowed. "I will do my best to do as you ask." He stood up and much to my surprise he gave me a quick, hard hug. "But please, come home safe. I do not deserve your friendship, but you have given it anyway. I am honored that you find me worthy of it."

"Listen to me. You, me and Logan, we're family in a really demented way, born from the madness of a monster. We understand things no one else here ever will. We've been through horrors no one else should have to go through. I will do everything in my power to make sure it never happens again."

"I will not let you down." The elevator door opened and I stepped out. Totem raised his hand as the door slid closed and I sprinted to the security room. Buzz was in there with the Weapon X files already opened, scanning them for similarities to the descriptions given by Sam.

"Hey Buzz. What you got for me?" I said.

"From what Sam said, I think these are your guys." He replied, pointing to two names on the list. "The guy that got Sam, I think that's Asp. From what I can tell, he has the metal on his skeleton, he's super stealthy and flexible. And he spits venom."

"Ok, that's really gross. What else does it say?"

"Well, there's a line here that says he has a healing factor of 4.5, but I don't know what that means."

"Hm. It must be some kind of classification system, something they came up with to rate us or something. Can you find out?"

"If it's on these disks, I can. But it might take more time than you have."

"I still need you to try." I ran my fingers through my hair. "Ok, who's the other one?"

"There's only one other living woman from the program besides you and that's this one, Tigress. Her claws are longer, but she only has them on her hands. She has senses like Logan and agility like you. Her healing factor is a 5.8; apparently, she forced her healing factor to make her immune to all kinds of stuff by overdosing."

"Great. So she's a nutjob in more than one way. Just what I needed."

"If it makes you feel better, it says you have a healing factor of 4.9 because you come back from the dead. Logan's a nine."

"Well, that's something I suppose." I clapped him on the back and turned to go. "Good work. Keep us posted."

"Will do boss." He said and turned back to the computer. I left the room and sprinted to the locker room.

Logan was still there, adjusting his uniform as I stripped down. He looked me over with his eyebrow quirked in that sexy way of his. I just smiled as I pulled on my tabi. "Like what you see lover?"

"So far, so good." He replied. I quickly donned the rest of my uniform and turned to leave, but he reached out and stopped me. "Hey, don't run off."

"What is it?"

He swallowed hard. "I just…Angela, as soon as we get on that plane, we're all X-Men."

"I know. What's this about?"

He pulled me close and kissed me, pouring more passion and emotion into that one gesture than I've ever felt. "I love you, darlin'. I'll never be able to tell you or show you how much. I don't know what we'll find when we get out there, but I needed to tell you before we left. You know, just in case."

"Logan, you're scaring me. Where is this coming from?"

"We've never gone on a mission together where we weren't together. You know we'll have to deploy in different places. I never told you all those years ago how I felt and now we're goin' back into the fight. I'm not takin' any chances, not anymore."

I felt a lump form in my throat and I pulled him down to me for another kiss. "I love you too. I always have, from the first time I ever saw you. We'll make it through this. Whether we like it or not, this is what we were built for. But loving you is something I did all on my own and if for no other reason, I'll make it through this. So I can tell you I love you when we get back."

He managed a weak smile and held me close, stroking my hair. We stayed that way for a moment until we heard the sound of someone clearing their throat behind me. We stepped apart and I turned to see Rogue standing there. "Come on, sugah. We have places to be."

Logan gave her a half smile and the three of us left the locker room to make our way to the hall outside the hangar. About ten minutes later, we heard the doors slide open and the jet come in to a perfect landing. The hangar doors slid open and we all rushed inside, Josh in the front next to Storm ready to help Sam. The ramp came down and he ran up with Storm right on his heels. I allowed myself one more smile before boarding the jet.

Sam was stretched out on the seats in the back, Josh's hand on his exposed knee. It was an ugly sight, one of the worst knee injuries I've ever seen. If we didn't have Josh, we would have been forced to leave Sam behind and let Dr. Endicott treat him. I was tempted to ask him to come along, but I didn't want to leave him behind in the jet alone and he might be needed here for an emergency. I bit my lip to keep myself from asking him anyway and watched him work. I'd never seen his power at work before and it was a beautiful thing to behold. In a matter of minutes, he had Sam's knee back to normal. He thanked Josh and they both dashed out of the plane, Sam to change into his uniform and Josh to help watch over the school. Logan and I made sure everyone on board had a communicator and we agreed on the frequencies we would use. Alpha team took the seats near the front while I took my usual seat as far from the front as I could get. Five minutes later, Sam rejoined Alpha team and Storm closed the ramp in preparation for take off.

Once in the air, the Professor checked in with us. He was currently scanning for Scott using Cerebro, but was also patched in to the jet's main radio frequency. He'd had no luck so far, but if Scott were still unconscious, he wouldn't be able to find him. He promised to keep scanning and let us know the moment he found anything. He signed off and I motioned to Beta team to gather around me.

"Ok team, listen up." I said, looking each of them in the eye. "For those who went with me before, this won't be too much of a surprise. As for the rest of you…" I trailed off and looked down at my hands. "If we're right about who has Scott, this is a very bad situation. They'll be like me and Logan, all the way down to the adamantium bones. So they won't be easy to take out or even just subdue. At least one of them spits poison, the other one's like if you mixed me and Logan together and made one good one, without the great big claws and coming back to life parts." Everyone nodded, filing the information away. "Now, unless the Professor gives us better intelligence, we're starting at Alkali Lake and working our way eastward, since that's the last direction we know they were heading. Wild Child, you have Scott's scent in memory, so I'll need you as a tracker first and foremost. Shadowcat, you'll be the forward scout; Jubilee will be your backup. Colossus, you're with Wild Child."

More nods all around, then Bobby spoke up. "What about me?"

"You'll be with Rogue as her backup." I looked over at her. "Same thing as Hudson Bay, only you'll be doing your thing here real soon."

"Why? Won't your powers wear off before we get there?" She said with a touch of panic in her voice.

"No. You need to imprint as much as you can without killing me, enough so it'll last but I'll be awake when we get there."

"Angela…" She began and I gave her a sharp look. This was a mission now so it was code names only. "Hellcat, how fast do you usually recover? I put Logan out for days after Liberty Island."

"Not as fast as he does, but I don't want you to take everything. But you need a lot more than you took last time because we'll be out longer. Just do what you have to do." She nodded and looked away, clearly not liking this order one bit. "Rogue, listen to me. If I had my way, I'd make you imprint all of us. You'd be unstoppable that way, but that's not fair to you. So you take as much of me as you can and you just deal with it. That's an order."

"Yes sir." She said without a trace of irony. I made everyone call me "sir", even though it should technically be "ma'am". I just hate that word. I don't feel old enough to be a "ma'am", over a century of life notwithstanding. "Where are you gonna be?"

I smiled. "I'm taking the high road. I'll be in the trees."

"You won't have any backup." Iceman pointed out.

"I won't need it."

Everyone fell silent again as they processed exactly what was happening. For half of them, this was their first time out on a real mission. For the first time, they looked impossibly young to me and I felt a twinge of guilt at bringing them in on this. Scott had always argued that they were just children and I was always the one arguing that they were old enough to vote, to be drafted to die for their country, to be considered adults by law. In a way, he was right. They were children. But they also had the right to make their own decisions and they had all decided that this is what they wanted to do, THIS is what they wanted to be. I had no right to take that away from them.

"Rogue, with me. Let's get this over with."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I came to when we were ten minutes from landing. Rogue was still sitting next to me, her expression hard. I looked over at her and she gave me a curt nod, the exact same thing I would have done. "So, how long do you think it'll last?" I asked her.

"A few hours for sure. And hey, check this out." She held out her ungloved hand and she furrowed her brow in concentration for a moment. After a few seconds, claws slid out from her fingertips.

I raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Well, that power of yours looks like it's progressing. Good stuff. If you need to lose your boots, do it. I should have a spare pair of these in here if you want them. Gloves too."

"Thanks, I'll ask Storm where they are." She moved to the front of the cabin and I settled back in my seat. A moment later, Rogue came back and I helped her put on the modified tabi like the ones I wore. We sat back in silence, each of us doing our own mental preparation for the mission ahead. For me, that meant stripping away the layers of humanity I put up between me and the animal inside until the hunt was all I wanted. I stopped just this side of completely feral, since I had to keep enough of my mind to lead this team. Still, my vision was obscured in a red haze, something I'd never been able to explain when the animal took over. A few minutes later, we landed.

We disembarked and waited until Storm set the defensive controls on the jet. It was set for vocal recognition, so if anyone who wasn't in the vocal database said anything on board, it would immediately close the ramp and shut itself down until someone came and manually entered the correct code to the jet's central computer. They would be effectively trapped until we got back. As soon as she joined us, Logan spoke up. "Ok teams, listen up. The Professor still doesn't have any current intel from Cerebro, so he's got Buzz looking into it. Right now, all we're doing is recon, try to figure out who these people were. Alpha team, we're going to the north, Beta to the south. We'll check in over the coms in thirty minutes."

Everyone nodded and set off. Logan and I spared ourselves a moment to just look at each other. I gave him a half smile that he returned before setting off behind Alpha team. I jogged the few yards to my team to give them their orders.

"Shadowcat, Jubilee I want you to go follow this path straight out, stay at least ten yards inside the tree line near the lake. Iceman, Rogue I want you following the same line fifteen yards further in. Wild Child, Colossus same thing. I'll take the furthest point on the high road. Check in every five minutes, code names only. If you find anything, report immediately and we'll converge on your position. Wild Child, you need to find scents you don't recognize. If you do, mark the position and we'll bring Wolverine over to lock it in his memory. Questions?" No one answered. "Let's do this."

We all moved to our positions and each team checked in as soon as they were in place. I slid my claws out and scrambled up the nearest tree, leaping from branch to branch when possible, cutting overland when I had to. They all checked in when they were supposed to with nothing new to report. Thirty minutes later, we heard Logan's voice over the com. "Beta leader, check in."

"Beta to Alpha. Nothing to report. Widening search area."

"Roger that. Check again in thirty. Alpha out."

I tapped the earpiece to switch the channel Beta was using exclusively. "Teams, widen search area. Expand to twenty-five yards. Check in every five minutes. Hellcat out."

I was still in the trees, scanning the ground beneath me for clues. Full night had been upon us since we got here and it was an open book to my eyes. Nothing was hidden from view. My sensitive ears could hear Wild Child and Colossus doing their sweep twenty yards away. If I cared to, I could peer through the trees and catch the glint of moonlight off Colossus' steel form, but that wasn't why I was there. Five minutes before the teams were to check in with each other, I caught sight of something glimmering in the dim light in the clearing below me. I tapped my earpiece so I could talk to both teams. "Beta leader to Alpha leader."

"Alpha here, go." Logan whispered.

"I've spotted something on the ground. Going low ground to check."

"Roger that. Stay in contact."

I slipped out of the tree I'd been perched in and carefully scanned the area. I crouched low, almost on all fours to the object in question. I looked carefully for signs of a trap: tripwire, pressure plate, anything that would make this a stupid thing to do. I didn't see anything, I couldn't hear anything, so I reached down carefully and picked up the object. It was something I recognized, because I had one just like it. It was a simple metal tag on a broken metal ball chain, stamped with a number and a single word. "Alpha leader, I have something. Both teams, converge on my position."

A chorus of "Roger that" came over my earpiece and I crouched low again, effectively hiding myself in the brush. A few moments later, the rest of my team came into the clearing and I stood briefly, motioning for them to take cover. Ten minutes later Alpha team entered the clearing. I stood and motioned for my team to stand down as I walked over to Logan.

"Worst fear confirmed." I said, handing him the tag. "They have him."

He looked at the tag, bringing it close to his face. I knew he could see it just fine, as well as I could. He did that to get the scent off it. As soon as he had that, he'd never stop until he found the person it belonged to. According to the tag, it was Tigress. "Son of a bitch. This just got a whole lot uglier."

"Tell me about it." I ran my fingers through my hair. "Any news from home base?"

"Not yet, but I don't think we can wait." He turned to his team. "Atlas, you said they were heading due east when they left?"

"Yes, but I don't know what's out there." He replied.

"I do. A whole lotta nothin'. They could be anywhere." Logan closed his eyes, gritting his teeth with frustration. "All right, new plan. Storm, can you configure the jet to scan the ground for heat signatures, power output, anything like that?"

"It'll take me about half an hour, but yes I can." She said.

"Ok then. Everyone, back to the jet. We're gonna find him the old fashioned way."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** Well, this is the second to last chapter and before you jump my butt, i know i'm a day late updating...i was tired, sue me...So you'll get a treat when i update on the 6th, so that's only 2 days:) Special thanks to my beta readers, Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel for their support and vigilance...Extra Special thanks to DBK(tm), for finally tearing himself away from the online Star Wars crack game to once again inspire me with his badgering...:) Super Special thanks to Dee (MidLifeCrisis) Rhia (RhiannonUK) and Joe (Joegood2003) for being swanky friends...if you haven't read their stuff you really should...and it'll tide you over til i get back...:) Extra Super Special thanks to you, the readers, for sticking with me this far...the more hits i get, the more i think maybe i don't suck at this whole writing thing...and Extra Super Swanky thanks to the readers who review...it's your feedback that keeps me going...without it, this story would never have happened (much less the sequel i'm already hard at work on!)...:)


	21. Interlude and Chapter 21 plus Epilogue

**Disclaimer:** You know who i own and who i don't by now...this is here so i don't get in trouble...:) Also, just a head's up here...this is a very long update, because i decided to add the epilogue to the end of the chapter to make sure the entire story was posted all at once...otherwise, you'd have to wait 2 weeks for less than 3 pages...you're welcome...:)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Interlude: Northern Alberta

He awoke in a room that smelled vaguely of disinfectant, but there seemed to be something wrong with his eyes. Try as he might, he couldn't open them, yet he felt nothing restraining them. He tried to move his hands up to his face, but he could only lift them about six inches due to the restraints on his wrists. He noted bitterly that his feet were free, for all the good they would do him. He struggled to remember exactly what had happened.

He remembered going back to Alkali Lake with Sam, to say goodbye to Jean. It had been a very hard thing to do, but after he was done he did feel a little better, like he had the rest of his life to look forward to instead of clinging desperately to the last happy moments of his past. He still hurt, he still missed her so much, but there was hope again. He had the Professor, a man he thought of as a father. He had friends who cared about him, even Logan in his own left-handed kind of way. There was the school with its students and all that they could mean for the future. He hadn't forgotten these people in his grief, but he'd let his sorrow get in the way of everything he'd held dear.

He remembered turning away from the lake to get Sam and go back to the jet for the night. They'd planned on staying here a day or so, to give him a chance to say anything he wanted to say Jean. But something had happened, someone had attacked him. She'd moved impossibly fast, faster than Angela and she was the quickest fighter he knew, quicker than Logan and that was saying something. She'd worn him down in no time and he was too slow to block the kick that knocked him out.

He heard a door open and the sound of several people entering the room. He raised his head a bit and turned towards the sound. "Who are you people?" He asked, his tone hard. "What have you done to my eyes?"

"We'll be asking the questions, not answering them." A man said, his accent pure Canadian. "Why were you and that other man at Alkali Lake?"

"Screw you. I have nothing to say to you."

"That, dear boy, is where you are wrong. Tell us what we want to know or we'll take it from you. Either way, we'll have our answers."

If he'd been able to glare at the voice, he would have. However, even if his eyes hadn't been stuck shut it would have been lost behind the ruby quartz lens of his visor. "Tell me what you did to my eyes!"

"Very well. I'll trade information for answers. We glued them shut. We lost a very good physician when he tried to examine them and he was hit by the blast that came out when he lifted your eyelid. It's for our safety."

The pronouncement hit him hard. Bad enough his hands were restrained, but they'd restrained his right to see as well. "You bastard. You have no idea what's going to happen now, do you?"

"I have no interest in your posturing. Just tell me why you were at Alkali Lake and who your companion was. That's all we want to know."

Drawing on a reserve of stubbornness that he'd learned from Logan, he sneered. "Fuck you."

"I see." He heard the sound of shuffling feet and the door opened again. "Bring him in. Take it from him." He heard another person enter the room and walk to the side of the table he was lying on. A moment later, he felt a hand rest on his forehead and the familiar feeling of someone in his mind overwhelmed him. It was nothing like when Jean would join her mind with his. That always had a feeling of peace about it, of joy and promise and love. This person, whoever it was, felt _slippery._ Like he was covered in a thin film of oil. The telepath took hold of his mind roughly, with no finesse at all and proceeded to dig through it the same way he might dig through a box of junk, examining and discarding memories that didn't match what he was looking for. The process probably only took a few minutes; to him, it felt like an eternity.

"Sir, we have a problem." The telepath said, backing away from the table.

"What?" Answered the first man. "Just tell me why he was there!"

"Sir, he was there because his fiancée died there, when the dam burst last spring."

"What, was she stationed there or something?"

"No sir, she was with a group of mutants who came to stop Stryker and save the kids he took from their school. But that's not the problem, sir."

"And that would be?"

The telepath cleared his throat before speaking. "Sir, this guy here…he's friends with Wolverine. And Hellcat."

Silence shrouded the room, so thick you could almost feel it. He could hear the sounds of people shifting in place, suddenly not comfortable with this situation. The first man coughed. "She's alive?"

"Yes sir. And as far as I can tell, she's responsible for the loss of Totem from the Hudson Bay facility."

"You're telling me that Wolverine, Hellcat AND Totem are together and haven't ripped each other apart yet?"

"Yes sir. This guy is affiliated with Charles Xavier. He's a better telepath than I am, though not by much. He broke the conditioning. On all of them."

"So they're all free? Completely?"

"Yes sir. But I have to warn you, this guy here…he thinks they'll come after him."

The silence returned, thicker than before. He couldn't help but laugh at the reaction of the people in the room with him. They thought they had the upper hand. They had no idea. "Yeah, they'll come after me. And God help you when they get here."

"Shut up. They'll never find this base." The first man said. "Not before we're done with you." He heard the man moving back to door, still speaking. "You, go in there and get me everything. I don't care what's left when you're done, just get it for me."

"Yes sir." The telepath said and took his position again next to the table. He felt that hand on his forehead again and the oily presence in his mind. This time, the telepath was brutal in his search and the last conscious thought Scott had before passing out was how he wished he could see it when Logan took this guy's head off.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 21.

(Logan)

With so little to go on, finding One-Eye was going to be difficult at best. But we had to try. The same people who'd fucked up so many lives had him and that wasn't a fate I would wish on my worst enemy. We'd been flying in a spiral pattern with Alkali Lake at the center for about an hour when the Professor finally contacted us.

"Storm, I located Scott but before I could get an exact location he disappeared again." He said, a touch of regret in voice. "But I have Buzz searching for military facilities in that area. For now, focus your search in the northeastern part of Alberta near the border with British Columbia."

"Got it, Professor." She replied, changing course. "We'll find him, don't worry."

"I know you will. Everything is still quiet here, no sign that anyone's trying to attack. Delta team is a bit disappointed."

"Tell them to thank their lucky stars." I said with a snort. "Keep in touch, Chuck."

He broke the connection and we sped through the sky heading to the northeast. There's a lot of empty in that part of Alberta, but that would be an advantage to us. We had detailed maps of what should be there, so anything else would automatically be suspicious and we'd have more intel for Buzz to work with. I glanced back at Angela, who was clutching Colossus' hand so hard that had he not been in metal form, it would have been crushed. I really wanted to go back there and comfort her, but we were still on a mission and it was no time to indulge ourselves.

Storm noticed me looking back there and smiled. "Logan, I know it's a mission and you have rules. But if there's anyone I know who likes to bend the rules, it's you. Go to her."

"You sure?" I replied, looking over the gauges.

"Positive. Sam can take over for you until we land. Go on, you're making me crazy."

I thanked her and smiled, unbuckling my harness and moving out of the way so Sam could take the co-pilot's seat. I moved down the aisle and took the seat next to my woman. "How you holdin' up, darlin'?"

"Logan, you're breaking the rules being back here." She mumbled, looking very pale.

"I know. But I'm in charge and you need me." I gathered her into my arms and I could feel her barely controlled shudders. "Besides, Storm said I was making her crazy and told me to come back here."

"Ooh, insubordination and everything." She buried her face in my neck as she wrapped her arms around my waist. "I don't give a fuck. I hate flying."

"I know, tiger. That's why I'm here." I just sat there holding her, something I normally wouldn't have done in front of so many prying eyes, but I could feel her relaxing so I decided not to care. If they wanted to say anything about the "softer side of Wolverine" when this was done, let them. Besides, I didn't know how long it would be before I'd have a chance to hold her like this again and I had no problem stealing whatever moments I could.

We made it up there in less than half an hour, Storm pushing the jet to nearly sub-orbital to save time. I checked the time, surprised to see how late it was, nearly three in the morning. We'd all been up since the previous morning and although Sam, Angela and I can mostly ignore fatigue, the rest weren't so lucky. I kissed my woman on the forehead and worked my way back to the front. Leaning against the back of Storm's seat, I checked the gauges and the jet looked like it was in need of a recharge too.

"Hey, why don't we set down somewhere and get some rest?" I whispered.

"Do you think we should?" She murmured. "How much time do you think he has?"

"Unknown. But they'll know by now that he ain't like Angela and me. They'll still probably test the shit outta him, but he's tough. He'll hold out as long as he has to."

"I just hate to think of what they might be doing." She sighed and there was an undertone of fear and sorrow to her scent. "Just imagining it…"

"Storm, don't. Believe me, you don't wanna know." I rested a hand on her shoulder and she reached up absently and gave it a pat. "C'mon, I know you have to be tired, the kids look ready to drop. Me and Sam can keep watch, listen for the radio."

"You're right, I know you are. Besides, the jet _could_ use a recharge."

I gave her shoulder a squeeze and turned to face the cabin. "Listen up everyone. We're settin' down for a few hours to recharge the jet. Might as well grab some rest while it does."

From the grateful looks I received, I knew I'd made the right choice. Within minutes, the jet was on the ground and Iceman and Rogue were setting up the tents. There wasn't much in the way of food on board, but there was a supply of energy bars (which is a code for "tastes like shit but keeps you going"), which were passed out and eaten before everyone took to their tents.

I settled in next to the small fire Angela started before she went to the tent we'd both sleep in but not really share. At least, that was supposed to be the plan. Sam had other ideas.

"Logan, go to your woman." He said and it wasn't a request. I raised an eyebrow at him as he sat down. "I'll keep watch."

"Last time I checked, I was the one in charge here." I reminded him.

"And the last time I checked, there was a beautiful woman in a tent that was carefully set up far enough away from everyone else to offer a bit of privacy to those so inclined to take advantage of it." He countered.

"I'm not gonna win this, am I?"

"You lost before you even started." He gave me a hard stare, challenging me to try and argue my way around this.

"I'll go on one condition." He kept staring, waiting for me to continue. "You let me relieve you in three hours. I'm pretty sure there's another beautiful woman who would like some attention of her own."

It was hard to tell in the firelight, but I'm pretty sure a flush crept up his neck. "Fine. Now get out of here."

I smiled and stalked silently back to the tent Angela had vanished into. It was still within sight of the others and as long as she didn't decide this was a screaming night, we were far enough away that no one (except maybe Wild Child) would hear anything. Leave it to Bobby to think of this.

I unzipped the tent as quietly as I could and slipped inside, closing the flap behind me. Angela sat up immediately, claws out, but relaxed when she saw it was me. "Logan, what are you doing here? I thought you were keeping watch tonight."

"More insubordination." I replied with a smirk as I knelt down next to her, pulling off my gloves and unzipping my jacket.

"Good." She replied and pulled me down for a kiss. She'd stripped down to her tank top and panties, since the uniforms are really not made for sleeping. I, on the other hand, was still fully clothed. "Mm, all this leather. It's kinda kinky."

"This from the woman who's afraid to have sex in our classroom." I pointed out as I shrugged the jacket off.

"Spoilsport." She pouted. I chuckled and sat back down to pull off my boots and pants. I'd barely gotten them off when she slid around and straddled me, her hands clutching my hair, her mouth on my neck. I couldn't help but notice that she'd gotten rid of her panties and I groaned and slid my hands under her tank top, pulling it over her head so I could sit back and just enjoy the view. I gently cupped one of her breasts, tracing circles around her nipple with my thumb and she answered me with a moan of her own. She leaned forward to kiss me, her hair spilling like silk over my face. She shifted herself upward a little, then lowered herself down on me with agonizing slowness, her eyes locked with mine.

"God, you are so beautiful." I gasped, looking into her eyes.

"Shh, don't say anything." She whispered, placing her fingers over my mouth. "I just want to feel you, remember this."

I nodded and she leaned down to kiss me again. I slid my hands up her back, burying them in her hair, letting her set the tempo. I would have sat there like that all night if she wanted to, but fortunately she didn't want to. She buried her face in my shoulder and started to move. I clenched my eyes shut, enjoying every sensation, every touch, every moan. It took me a few minutes to realize she was also crying. I grabbed her by the hips to stop her.

"Darlin', what's wrong?" I asked, cupping her face and wiping away her tears with my thumb.

"I just have such a bad feeling about this mission." She murmured, her mouth quivering. "Logan, I'm scared."

I pulled her back to me, gently pushing her head back to my shoulder. "Shh, darlin'. Don't cry. There ain't nothin' to be afraid of. We'll be all right."

"You promise?"

"Yeah, I do." I stroked her back to calm her, wishing I could magically take her fear away. "Nothin's gonna happen to us, ok?" She nodded and lifted her head to look at me. She gave me a weak smile and I pulled her down into a kiss. I wrapped my free arm around her waist and in one smooth motion I flipped her over without breaking any contact. I gazed into her eyes as I took over, telling her the best way I knew how that I loved her and would always be there for her.

Later, as she slept in my arms, I thought about what she'd said. I could understand her fear. This was the first real combat mission we'd been on together since our Alkali Lake days and back then, we'd denied ourselves what we had both wanted so badly. Now, it was more complicated and there were more people to worry about. But, if nothing else, we'd had this night together and no matter what happened, it would be one memory that I'd cherish until the day I died. I closed my eyes, breathing in her scent and dozed off.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

My eyes sprang open when I heard the soft footsteps outside the tent. Whoever was out there was trying their best to be quiet, but most people don't have ears like mine. I lay still, tensed for a confrontation out of habit. I didn't have to look to know that Angela was awake as well, having heard the same thing I did. We were on a mission and whatever sweet oblivion our lovemaking had given us, our training was simply too ingrained to be denied. I inhaled deeply and over the faint musk that still permeated the tent was a scent that was unmistakably Sam. I relaxed.

"It's ok." I whispered to Angela and I felt the tension leave her as well. "It's my turn to watch."

"Do you have to?" She mumbled, snuggling closer to me.

"Yeah. Occupational hazard of bein' in charge." She cursed softly, nuzzling my neck before sliding up to kiss me. "Don't worry, I'll see you in a few hours."

"Sure, but we'll be all business by then." She whispered, pouting a little.

"I promise, I'll make it a rule that it's ok for couples to have at least one kiss before the teams are deployed."

"Mm, you better." She kissed me again and then curled up under the sleeping bag. I got dressed as quickly as I could and unzipped the tent flap. I looked over my shoulder before exiting and saw that she'd already rolled over and gathered the pillow I'd been sleeping on into her arms, curling up around it possessively. I smiled and stepped outside.

"Hey Logan." Sam said as I zipped the tent back up. "I assumed you'd know it was me whether I said anything or not."

"You assumed right." I replied. "Any word from the Professor?"

"Nothing yet. He said he wouldn't call until he knew something."

"Fine." We walked back to the fire, since I didn't want to disturb Angela. "Everythin' quiet out here?"

"Pretty much. Just the sounds you'd expect around a big campsite like this."

He nudged my arm and I saw that he was holding out a flask. I raised an eyebrow but took it anyway, drinking deep. It was some of the finest whisky I've ever tasted and I handed it back with a smile. "Good stuff. Anyone but you or me with it, I'd have their hide."

"Probably. But you know I can take it." I nodded and sat down by the fire, which had burned down to mostly coals. "I have to say, I really hated to wake you. You deserve as much time with her as you can get. She's a hell of a lady."

"That she is. But thanks to our mutations, we'll probably be around long after everyone here is long gone." I tossed another piece of wood on the fire and poked it to bring it back to life. "We'll have plenty of time together."

He nodded and stood staring into the flames, his expression carefully guarded. I got the impression he wanted to ask something, but didn't know how. After a couple minutes, he sat across from me and cleared his throat. "How do you deal with it, Logan? Living for so long, watching people you care about…" He trailed off, not wanting to give voice to what I thought about every day.

"Tell you the truth, I don't know." I said, poking the fire some more. "I only have about sixteen years of memories to work with. Haven't lost anyone permanently in that time." I set the stick I was using aside and motioned for the flask again. He handed it to me and I took another long drink. "Now Angela? She remembers everythin' back to her childhood. Some days, I envy her that. Others…she tells me I got the better deal, with the amnesia. On some stuff, like what they did to us, I tend to agree. It was almost easier when I didn't remember all of it. But I tell you what, I'd give almost anythin' just to remember my own real name."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry as hell you guys had to go through that."

"Bub, you ain't got nothin' to be sorry for. You didn't do this to us."

"I know, but…Logan, I've tried for a hell of a long time to hide from all this. I really, truly believed that if I waited long enough, I could come back out of my little cave there in Washington state and the world would be all shiny happy people holding hands with their mutant brethren. That the world would just wake up one day and realize that we weren't different from normal humans, not where it counted." He shook his head bitterly and took a swig from the flask. "I was a damned fool and it took a complete stranger to open my eyes."

"You mean Angela?" I asked, taking the flask again.

He nodded. "Yeah. I didn't want to come back, you know. Storm pleaded her case and it was a good one. Scott's like a brother to me and I'd go to hell and back for him. I was going to try and convince them to bring him out to my studio, get him away from all the reminders. But then Angela told me her story, what happened to her and her daughter. And you." I handed the flask back and he recapped it, stashing it in his pocket. "I didn't believe her, didn't WANT to believe her. It was just too wild a tale. Sounded like something you'd see on the Sci-Fi network to me. So, she proved it."

We sat there and I listened as he recounted the story for me, the whole thing playing out in my head as he spoke.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Sam opened another bottle of his finest whisky, imported from Ireland. Ororo had gone to bed some time ago, so it was just him and Angela in the study, drinking into the wee hours of the morning. She held out her glass and he graciously refilled it before pouring himself another measure. She swirled it around in her glass, savoring the aroma before sipping it delicately. "Sam, my friend, you have excellent taste."_

_"Most of the people I know call it snobbery." He replied, smiling._

_"Ah, what do they know? Backwoods morons, the lot of them." She sat back in her chair, folding her legs underneath her. Sam looked at her curiously, still trying to figure out how much of her wild tale was actually true. She carried herself with an easy grace, not at all like someone who supposedly had a hundred pounds of indestructible metal fused to her skeleton. Rather than be offended by the blatant scrutiny, she brushed it off as no big deal. She took another sip of the amber liquid, enjoying the slight burn as she swallowed it. She met Sam's eyes and cocked her head to one side. "Something on your mind?"_

_"Yes, there is actually." He said, leaning forward and setting his glass on the coffee table. "I have to admit that I really don't believe your story. I'm not saying you're lying, but you already admitted that you had false memories implanted, telepathic compulsions, and all that stuff. So how do you know the rest of it isn't fake, too?"_

_She sat very still, her eyes narrowed a little. Had he known her better, he would have known this was a warning sign that her temper was heating up, which was usually followed by blind, feral rage. However, she took a deep breath, followed by a long sip of the whisky before replying. "Sam, I wish to all the gods that you were right. I wish I'd never done the things I've done, seen the things I've seen. I wish I could wake up tomorrow in my old house and be pissed off that my daughter had left her school books and make up strewn all over the house. I wish I could open a door and it would be her bedroom, decorated with posters of movie stars and all the trophies she won for whatever it was she would have been. But I won't wake up, because this isn't a nightmare. I understand that you have a nice little bubble here, a world you created because the real one was too ugly. Trust me, you ain't seen nothing yet."_

_She set down her whisky, stood up and went to the kitchen, returning with a very large, very sharp knife, a clean towel draped over her arm. She took up her glass and downed the last of the whisky, shaking her head a bit as the shock of it wore off. Sam sat in his chair, unsure of what all of this was about. Angela sat down next to the coffee table and before he had time to react, she took up the knife in her right hand and plunged it straight through her left, effectively pinning it to the table. Sam jumped up to help her, but she whipped her head around with a snarl before returning to the task at hand. Gritting her teeth, she pulled the knife back out, laying the towel under her hand. She carefully inserted the knife under the layers of skin and tissue on the back of her hand, almost as though she was filleting a fish. Finally, with a grunt of pain, she finished her work, flipped back the flap of skin she'd loosened and blotted away the blood. "Look closely, Sam. Look really close. THIS is my nightmare."_

_Swallowing hard, he forced himself to lean down and look into the wound she'd given herself. Gleaming in the dim light of his study, instead of the ivory white bones he'd expected to see, were the brightly shining adamantium covered bones of her hand. Without thinking, he reached out with a finger and touched one, not believing they were real. She let him do it, do whatever he wanted to prove to himself that it was real. When he looked into her eyes, a single tear was running down his face. "My God. How did you ever survive this?"_

_"I didn't." She replied, her voice tight. She replaced the flap of skin over the wound and wrapped her hand tightly in the towel. "That's part of my mutation, I don't stay dead. They just kept killing me over and over until it was done." She moved back to her seat and held out her empty glass. Sam refilled it, all the way to the top this time, and she gratefully downed half of it in one shot. "The claws you know about, you saw those earlier. I also have a healing factor." She motioned with her injured hand. "This'll be gone in a couple hours. Won't even leave a scar." She settled back in her chair, her injured hand clutched to her chest, her whisky glass in the other. "I don't know what you're thinking about why we're here. I just wanted to help Scott. He's become a good friend and I hate to see people I care about in pain. I don't give a fuck about your reasons for not wanting to go back there. I think part of you needs to go back there just as much as you're NEEDED there. So if my little self-mutilation is what it takes to get you to agree, so be it."_

_"Angela, I didn't…you didn't have to do that." He murmured, refilling his own glass. "It's just so hard to believe that people would be so cruel to other people like that."_

_"See, that's the point I'm trying to make here! We AREN'T 'people' to the ones who did this to me. We're nothing but mutants, a step above animals. They're too stupid to know that we're a step above THEM. Now, I'm no Magneto, I don't want to use my advantages to take over the damn world. It's a fucked up place and I don't want it for myself. But there are those out there who do want that or worse. The X-Men need a leader and Scott's the best one for the job. But he's no good to the team right now, he's too crippled by his own grief over Jean, he's angry because she left him here alone and he's guilty because he's angry. I've seen it all before, I went through it myself. I'm just not the person to help him, I don't know him well enough to do that. He won't go to anyone else. YOU know him, you said he was like a brother to you. Prove it, Sam. Come back with us and help your brother."_

_"Why did you do it, Angela? Showing me your bones has nothing to do with Scott. You have another agenda, something Ororo doesn't know about."_

_"Damn straight I do." She snapped, finishing her whisky and holding her glass out for a refill. "Scott doesn't need you for a little while. He needs you permanently, part of the team. I know what you told me over dinner, why you left and it's bullshit. So you can't control your mutation, so what? You're not the only one. I'm a half-inch from complete feral right now and the only thing holding me back is concentrating on my next drink. In a little while, the pain in my hand will fade and the animal will go back to sleep. But it's always there, waiting for a chance to come out and wreak havoc. Having these powers means I have a responsibility. So do you. It's about time you took it."_

_Sam looked down at the floor, ashamed for the first time in over a decade because of his powers. Before, it was because he'd used them. Now, it was because he wasn't. He downed the rest of his whisky and rolled the glass between his hands. He had to focus carefully so he didn't accidentally break it. That had always been the problem, his strength. Unless he was extremely careful, he'd break anything he touched and had on so many occasions. He couldn't count the doors he'd ripped off their hinges, the bottles he'd broken, hell even the rocks he'd crushed in his massive fists. It had taken him years to learn exactly how much force every substance could take before bending or breaking. He was so used to it now that he could make the calculations in the blink of an eye, for everything from glass to diamonds. He wasn't sure he could break the latter, but he couldn't be too careful, just in case._

_He looked back up and Angela was simply sitting there, staring at him. Her demeanor had changed, she seemed a little more relaxed than she had before and Sam wondered how long he'd been trapped in his reverie. With a sigh, he refilled both of their glasses. "Angela, you're right, I have been hiding out here. I was just so embarrassed by my powers, how hard it is to control them. I have to be hyperaware of everything I do or things just break all around me. But you were right, it's just an excuse." He raised his glass to her in a silent toast. "I'll go back with you. I can't promise I'll rejoin the team, but I'll stay as long as they need me to."_

_Angela raised her glass in answer to his. "That's all I'm asking." She replied, downing her whisky. "Besides, I'm not officially an X-Man either. I just said they needed you on the team." She smiled and stood up, giving him a small nod before going off to the room she was staying in for the night. Sam stayed up much longer, greeting the dawn with the birds. He knew he'd been tricked there, in the end, but he also didn't mind._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"…She's a tricky one, that woman of yours." He finished, fishing out the flask again. "She knew just which buttons to push to get me back to the school."

"Now look at ya, out here in the field." I replied as he handed me the flask. "Are you gonna stay? Rejoin the team?"

"Yeah, I think I am. I feel like I have to. I can't be afraid of what I might do anymore, not when I'm so much more frightened of what others might do."

I nodded in agreement and took a long swig. The flask was nearly empty when I handed it back. "Yeah, I hear ya there. I keep hopin' someday that it'll change and I'll be out of a job."

"It'll take time." He mumbled, emptying the flask.

"Yeah well, I've got plenty of that." I stirred the fire again, watching the sparks spiral up towards the sky. "Now get outta here. Go cuddle up to that lady you've been courtin' and get some quality time with her." He smiled and made his way to Storm's tent. I purposely tuned out any sounds that came from that direction, listening only for those that would signal the approach of people from outside the perimeter. They deserved as much privacy as I could give them, not that it's easy with ears like mine. Fortunately, the rest of the night passed without incident, which unfortunately meant we didn't hear from the Professor, and I waited until the first gray light of dawn to wake up the troops.

We broke camp and got everything squared away in an acceptable amount of time, the younger team members only grumbling a little at the unholy hour. We boarded the jet and this time I let Sam take the co-pilot's seat without hesitation. I stayed in the back with Angela, helping to soothe her fear while we continued our search for wherever they were holding Scott. A little under an hour later, the Professor called.

"Storm, we think we've found the base." He said, sounding tired. He must have been up all night. "I'm sending the coordinates now, but Buzz informs me that getting in might be tricky."

"Why's that?" I asked, moving towards the front of the jet.

"From what he's been able to hack out of their central computer, they used a telepath to extract information from Scott. They're expecting you."

"Damn it!" I exclaimed, wishing I could punch something. "Can he find us another way in?"

"If there's a back door to the base, he hasn't been able to find it. However, it seems they haven't done anything to him yet and he hasn't found anything to indicate that they're planning to start. You might be better off waiting until nightfall to make your move."

"Roger that." He signed off and I looked back at the teams. Everyone looked disheartened at the thought of waiting the entire day to go in, but I didn't see where we had much choice. I turned back to Storm. "Find us a place within a klick of that base to set down. We'll have to wait til sunset to move in." A chorus of protests erupted behind me and I raised my hand to silence them. "Stop!" I barked. "I know, I don't wanna wait either. But there's no sense in goin' in there right away. The longer we wait, the more they'll relax."

"They could be doin' anythin' to him in there!" Rogue shouted, clearly unhappy with this decision.

"I know. But we need every advantage we can get now. This gives us plenty of time to plan. Now buckle up."

I went back to Angela and she gave me an agonized look. She knew more than anyone besides me what could be happening in there. I just hoped we'd make it before they got too far.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tension grew as the day wore on and it only got worse when the skies darkened and the sound of thunder echoed in the distance. However, instead of looking at this as another obstacle, it made me happy. If that storm came in soon enough, we could move earlier under the cover of the weather. Storm asked me if I wanted her to hold it off and I shook my head. "No, it'll work to our advantage. We'll be able to use it as cover."

"Logan, it's November." She replied and I just gave her a look. "It's cold enough without adding ice-cold rain to the mix."

"I know, Storm. But we need the advantage. Let it go." She gave me a hard look and walked away, back to where Sam was sitting with Piotr discussing art. I know she was trying to spare the kids as much discomfort as possible, but I disagreed with that. We couldn't run every mission under cloudless skies in seventy-degree weather. This was for real and the more they realized that, the better I'd feel.

About forty minutes before sundown, the skies opened up and we made our move. Angela took Beta team a little to the south of the base while I took Alpha a bit to the north a few minutes later. We hoped that whoever was watching for us would assume her team was the only one and we'd be able to slip inside with a minimum of fuss. We still ran into a few sentries along the way, but between Kurt and I, we took care of them quickly enough. By the time we reached the base, it was apparent that most of the sentries had gone to intercept Beta team. I broke radio silence just long enough to say "good luck" to Angela before taking Alpha team forward to the base entrance.

Over the course of my life, I've come to the decision that you can always tell how bad an operation is by how much of the base is underground. This one was pretty bad. We came up to the base and to all outward appearances there were only three buildings in the whole place, two of which looked to be warehouses. The third was a Quonset style bunker, hunched in between them. I nodded silently to Storm and she used the already existing thunderstorm to call lightning down on the base, which caused the men guarding the buildings to scatter for cover. With a little extra push, she called up a fog that was just thick enough to hide our movements. I'd taken the liberty of stealing Iceman from Beta team so we'd have a little extra firepower once we got inside. Rogue wasn't happy about it, but we needed him more than they did. Kurt bamfed me, Iceman and Atlas to the bunker while Storm flew in silently overhead.

I took stock of the surroundings, the rain making it damned hard for me to scent out Scott. Once we were all in position, I popped my claws and tore through the door, taking the risky point position. It doesn't matter how many people might shoot me, it would only piss me off anyway. The others came in quickly behind me, but it was for nothing. The bunker was devoid of life, the guards a decoy. I cursed softly and we dashed back outside and I led the charge to the warehouse on the left, where all the guards had taken cover. I hoped that wasn't a ploy as well, since I didn't much feel like letting Murphy's Law rule this mission.

I had just raised my claws to tear through the warehouse door when Atlas pushed me aside and ripped it off its hinges, tossing it aside like paper. We rushed in and were greeted by dozens of clicks.

"Freeze!" Someone shouted and we all instinctively skidded to a halt.

"If you insist." Iceman said beside me and raised his hands. In a matter of seconds, thick ice coated several of the soldiers from their shoulders to the barrels of their guns and a few of them fell over with the added weight. A heartbeat later, the rest opened fire.

I popped my claws and leapt into the fray, grunting slightly whenever I felt a bullet make impact. The X-suits are made to withstand most weapons, but these were just high enough caliber that the suit didn't make a difference. I didn't care. I sliced through guns and flesh with equal abandon, not caring if I cut off fingers, arms or whatever was necessary to get through. Nightcrawler was bamfing in and out so fast that no one could get a lock on him and I understood why Stryker had used him so long ago to attack the President. He simply wasn't where the weapons were yet he made quick work of the soldiers he encountered. Storm was calling lightning from her hands, shooting forked bolts to hit two at a time, just hard enough to take them out of commission. Iceman continued to freeze the men, even managing in a few cases to freeze weapons enough to shatter them. Sam simply grabbed weapons and twisted them beyond recognition or broke them in half before grabbing the soldiers and tossing them into the walls. All told, the skirmish took less than two minutes.

I took a moment to calm myself enough to sort through the stink of blood, sweat and cordite for any hint of Scott's scent. My eyes fell on a door near the back and I approached it cautiously. As I got closer, I caught a whiff of his cologne. I barked out an order to the rest of the team and slashed the door open. Sure enough, there were metal stairs that led down behind it. I reported my findings to Beta team and we descended into the bowels of the earth.

At the bottom of the stairs was a small anteroom with a door to either side. Both required a keycard to open, but my claws gave me better clearance than half the people stationed at this base. I took a moment to get my bearings and slashed through the door to my right. The hallway beyond was bathed in red light; they knew we were coming. But Scott was down there somewhere and we hadn't come this far to be put off by something like a red alert. Once again on point, I followed my nose in the direction of where they were holding him.

Naturally, we didn't make it far before more soldiers appeared, not bothering to say anything before opening fire. I took a shot high on my right shoulder and turned to the guy with a snarl. He had just enough time to register my claws as they sprang forth from their housings before I slashed down, taking his arm off at the elbow. A second slash across the throat all but took his head off. Nightcrawler had teleported behind the soldiers and was using every bit of his acrobatic ability to take out as many back there as he could. I heard the sound of bones snapping like twigs and a quick glance showed me that he'd taken Atlas with him who was simply grabbing people and snapping arms or legs to disable them. Another soldier pointed his rifle at me and I slashed it to pieces before shoving my right claws into his gut, slashing out to the left to open another man from neck to navel. Atlas picked up another soldier and casually tossed him into the remaining few, knocking them over and Iceman froze them to the ground. I kicked them in their faces to knock them out and we continued down the hall.

Scott's scent was getting stronger and we met with the last of the opposition near where they had to be holding him. I was covered with blood, most of it not my own and my claws were dripping with gore. "Easy way or hard way, fellas." I snarled. "Please, pick the hard way." A couple of guys in the back wavered a bit, but the one who had to be the squad leader barked an order and fired. I grunted as the bullet hit me in the thigh and I let out a roar as I leapt forward and buried my claws in his chest. Nightcrawler and Atlas once again disappeared, only to reappear behind the squad and start working on the men back there. Iceman was shooting large balls of ice from his hands, hitting them hard enough to crack skulls and shatter bones. I continued to cut my way through them, slicing the soldiers open and leaving them dead or dying in my wake. It was over far too quickly.

I once again took a moment to tamp down my rage but I could feel the animal prowling back and forth inside my skull. I took another moment to look over my team, assessing the situation as quickly as I could. There were many bruises all around and Atlas had been grazed on his cheek, but nothing more serious than that. As for me, I couldn't say how many times I'd been shot. It didn't matter, I healed. I always do. "We ready?" I asked and everyone nodded. I rounded the final corner and burst through the doors at the end of the hall.

You'd think they'd come up with a different layout for their labs, but this one was identical to the ones at Alkali Lake and Hudson Bay. The only major difference was the tank was empty and Scott was strapped to a table, electrodes protruding from every part of his body and a man hunched over near his head. About two dozen soldiers were between them and us along with half a dozen scientists. But the one guy I wanted most was in the back, his uniform identifying him as a colonel. He had to be the one in charge here.

All eyes snapped to us and I lifted my right hand, claws extended to point at the bigwig. "I'll have your head, asshole."

"Make one move and I'll have Curtis here pump enough electricity through your friend to kill him now." He said with a sneer, pointing to a man sitting at a console next to him. "Walk away, Wolverine. You're not worth the trouble anymore."

"Sorry bub. That's my friend you have there and I ain't leavin' without him."

The colonel looked over the party and frowned. "Where's Hellcat? We know she's with you."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but she's keepin' the rest of your troops occupied elsewhere." His eyes widened as he realized the truth. Two teams, split forces. He didn't stand a chance and he knew it. "You made us what we are. Now we're shovin' it down your throats." I didn't give him the opportunity to respond, I leapt forward and slashed the throat of the nearest soldier and the firefight began.

Nightcrawler bamfed to the console with Atlas and he took out Curtis while Atlas smashed the machine. Storm finally had the space to use her power, not an easy thing for her this far from the actual elements but she still had enough to strike out with the lightning and take out soldiers two at a time. Iceman was once again lobbing those huge ice balls in between freezing weapons and shattering them. I shoved and sliced my way through the fray until I reached the colonel. He pulled out a Glock pistol and shoved it in my face. "Why do you do this, Wolverine? Why do you keep coming back around? You should have stayed gone while you had a chance."

I lashed out with my claws and severed his arm at the elbow. He screamed in pain and fell to his knees, cradling the stump to his chest. I grabbed him by the back of his head and forced him to look at me. "Because I want to kill you all. You wanted to make the perfect killer, bub. How do ya like it?" Again, I didn't give him a chance to answer; I just shoved my claws in his throat and ripped his head off. I tossed it aside as his body fell to the floor and rounded on the last person in the room who interested me.

The man who'd been positioned near Scott's head was cowering in a corner, trying to avoid the fighting that was just now dying down in the rest of the lab. I stalked across the lab, grabbed him by his neck and hauled him to his feet. His eyes widened and the scent of his fear was the sweetest thing to me. A heartbeat later I realized I knew who this was. "You're that telepath that fucked up my head." I growled. "What did you do to me?"

"Just what they told me to do!" He whimpered, struggling against my grip.

"And what would that be?" I gave him a rough shake. "ANSWER ME!"

He gagged and I relaxed my grip enough to allow him to speak. "Th-they wanted your memories erased. If that didn't work, they wanted them suppressed, buried so deep they'd never come back. But we could never make it stick for long, they kept coming back no matter what we tried. They made that chip just for you, no one else ever needed one."

"Well bub, I don't have that problem anymore." I tapped the side of my head. "Got that thing taken out."

He closed his eyes and whimpered, trying to avert his face but I gave him another shake and his head snapped forward again. "Wolverine, you don't know what it was like for us! The things he'd do…I'm sorry!"

I growled low in my chest and bared my teeth. "YOU'RE SORRY? You stole my entire fuckin' life and you're SORRY?" I shoved him into the wall and popped the claws on my left hand and his bladder let go. "You haven't even BEGUN to be sorry!" I shoved my claws into his gut and he let out a gasp, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. I let him go and he fell in a heap on the floor, his blood pooling around him as he died. I turned my back on him and retracted my claws, head down and breathing hard. I calmed myself before looking back up to survey the damage.

The only people left standing were X-Men. Everyone else was either dead or dying and I didn't much give a shit about them. Atlas had finished getting the electrodes out of Scott and found him a set of scrubs to put on. He'd be cold once we got outside, but at least he was covered. There were a few more injuries to the team; Storm had a bruise forming on her cheek and Iceman was favoring his ankle a bit, but otherwise everyone seemed ok. I didn't even want to look at my uniform, I was sure it was riddled with bullet holes and would have to be tossed as soon as we got back to the mansion.

I walked over to Scott and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You all right?"

He nodded. "Yeah Logan, I'm fine. Wasn't in here for long."

"We have to get him back to the jet." Atlas said, supporting him. "They glued his eyes shut."

I cursed under my breath and wished I could kill these guys again. "Right. Let's get outta here." I motioned to the team and we swept out of the lab, leaving the soldiers where they lay. If there was anyone left alive, they could pick up the pieces, in some cases literally. Once we were back on the upper level I tapped my earpiece. "Beta leader, check in." I waited a moment but she didn't answer. "Beta leader, report!" Still nothing. "Hellcat!"

"Sorry Alpha leader." She said and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Just finishing a little business." I heard her grunt followed by someone else's scream of pain. "There, all done. Hostile forces taken care of. Situation jigsaw."

I couldn't stop my smile. That had been our private code for when our target was in pieces. "Same here Beta leader. Objective acquired, we're comin' out."

"Roger that. Beta leader ou…wait a second." I heard a tiny burst of static, which meant she'd gone to the secure channel Beta team was using. A moment later she came back. "We have a problem. Rogue's missing."

I felt my stomach drop. "What?"

"Kitty reports they got separated and she can't find her. Said they ran into a couple other mutants. Descriptions match Asp and Tigress."

I clenched my fists, my claws itching to spring free. I took a deep breath to calm down a bit. "Beta leader, hold position. We'll be there right away."

"Roger that. Beta leader out."

I turned to the team and Iceman took a step back when I looked up. "Atlas, can you get Cyclops back to the jet on your own?"

"Sure." He replied. "What's wrong?"

"Rogue's missing. We need to find her." I dashed out of the warehouse and back into the teeth of the thunderstorm, the rest of the team hot on my heels. Once outside, Atlas scooped Cyclops into a fireman's carry and took off towards the jet. The rest of us headed towards the south to the area Beta team had used to draw off most of the firepower. It didn't take us long to find a trail to follow; Angela had left a lot of carnage in her wake. I tapped my earpiece again. "Beta leader, what's your position?"

"Less than half a klick to your south." She answered, sounding breathless. "Currently engaged. Beta out."

Storm immediately took to the air while Nightcrawler grabbed Iceman and teleported away. I ran full out, rain lashing against my face and running in icy trickles down the back of my uniform. A few moments later I arrived on the scene. Angela was engaged in a cat-and-mouse fight with another woman, a little taller than her with red hair: Tigress. Before I could pop my claws and jump in, a bolt of lightning streaked down and hit Tigress full in the chest, throwing her twenty feet into the trunk of a tree. She hit with a thud and fell to the ground, out cold. Iceman was there a heartbeat later and encased her in a thick coat of ice to immobilize her. I ran to Angela.

"You all right?" I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." She replied, breathing heavily. "Shadowcat lost track of Rogue about ten minutes ago. They were about half a klick west of here. They were fighting her," she gestured to Tigress, "and that other guy and they got separated. Shadowcat went back to find her, but she was gone." She swallowed hard. "She's not answering her com."

I clenched my jaw and tapped my earpiece to bring everyone into communication. "All teams, fan out. Find her. Report if you see anything." I looked down at Angela who was visibly upset. "We'll find her."

She managed a weak smile and took off to the north. I struck out due west to her last known position. If she'd encountered Asp on her own, it was certainly possible that he'd subdued her and carried her away somewhere. I vowed to find him and tear him apart if anything had happened to her.

Lightning cracked the sky, immediately followed by a crash of thunder so loud it made my heart skip a beat. I ran through the trees, my head sweeping back and forth in an attempt to use my senses to track them, even though it was pretty much futile in these conditions. The ice-cold rain pelted my skin like a hundred thousand needles, but even its frigidity didn't compare to the frozen pit that was now my stomach.

I traveled much farther than half a klick with no sign of her at all. The woods grew denser, tree branches whipped against my face opening cuts that bled only slightly before closing over again. I don't know how long I jogged through the forest, but every minute that passed was a minute too long. I came to a clearing in the woods, a tiny cabin sitting in the center of it looking for all the world like the witch's house in a fairy tale, its owner ready to take in unsuspecting children to make a meal of them. Painted white with pale blue gingerbread trim, a neat flowerbed under the single front window and a rose vine climbing up next to the door, it still managed to give off the distinct feeling of wrongness. I slid my claws out slowly and approached the oversized dollhouse with caution. The lone window was dark and I detected no movement inside, but that didn't mean there wasn't someone hiding in there.

I couldn't help but feel like it was my fault she was out here. Maybe if I'd never stabbed her that first night at the mansion and if Liberty Island had never happened, she wouldn't be. She'd almost died both times and only by using her power to absorb mine had she survived. Unfortunately, that also meant that she'd absorbed ME. I am what I am: a fighter, a survivor, a killer. But that didn't mean she had to follow in my footsteps, become what I am. I never asked her when she told me she wanted to be an X-Man what her reasons were, so now all I could do was wonder if any of it was because of the parts of me that still whispered in her head.

We'd talked about the things she'd gotten from me once, a couple days after Liberty Island, the day before I left to search for clues at Alkali Lake. She'd told me it was all right, that she was learning to separate what was her and what was everyone else. But I've never been sure if she ever got over what happened that first night at the mansion. God only knows I love the kid like she's my own flesh and blood, but there are times where she looks at me and the guilt that I see in her eyes is enough to break my heart. She doesn't say it, but I know.

And now I was slogging through the mud in another godforsaken forest in the middle of a thunderstorm, looking for one of the few people I care enough about to die for. I shuddered inwardly, thinking of the last time I'd had to search for someone in a storm like this, the time Angela had been struck by lightning and almost died. I hadn't known then that she'd have survived it even if it had killed her. All I'd seen was someone I was drawn to like no other in a heap at the base of a tree, not breathing. I prayed to anyone who would listen that there wouldn't be a repeat of that situation, because Rogue wouldn't survive it and I didn't know that I could survive losing her.

I prowled around to the back of the cabin, still trying to catch even the tiniest bit of scent in the rain-scoured air. Another flash of lightning illuminated the scene and I finally caught sight of something that was even more out of place than this gingerbread creation in the middle of the woods. I threw caution to the wind and ran to the figure lying on the forest floor, face turned to the sky. My claws retracted with a "snikt" and I threw myself on the ground next to her.

I knew immediately something was wrong. Her face was icy beneath my fingers and she didn't seem to be breathing. Worst of all was the fact that there wasn't a single mark on her and she didn't smell like she'd been hit by lightning. I knew what that smelled like; I'd been around it before. If my senses hadn't already been telling me the worst, I'd have thought she was asleep, she looked so peaceful. Cursing silently, I removed one of my gloves, pressed my naked hand to the side of her face and waited.

And waited. And waited some more. At least five times longer than it took for her mutation to pull me in at Liberty Island, I waited. The beast inside me was already screaming in rage, knowing what the man didn't want to admit. A low keening sound filled the clearing and it took me a moment to realize it was coming from me. I shook her a little, begging her to just do it, drain me dry, but just come back. We've been there before remember? You can do it, kid. Just don't let this be real.

I sat there clinging to her for what seemed like hours, trying to will my healing ability into her even though I already knew it was too late. Tears streamed down my face, mingling with the rain. I'd had so much taken away from me, so much I didn't know about my life before Alkali Lake. And now the first person that had been able to crack the walls around my heart was gone. What pained me the most was that I'd never told her how much she meant to me, that I loved her. Now I'd never get that chance.

I clenched my eyes shut, hoping that when I opened them again I'd see her smiling up at me. But instead, I was struck forcefully by a memory. It was crystal clear, the most vivid thing I'd remembered since that clearing in Pennsylvania when everything about Angela came flooding back to me. I don't know where I was, but there were people all around me and the clothing they wore was from before the turn of the century. I was fighting someone and as I brought a hand back to slash my opponent with my claws, I felt them impact with someone. When I turned to look, there was a girl impaled on the three ivory protrusions. Horrified, I drew them out and she fell to the ground. I picked her up gently, saying her name over and over again: Rose. This was Rose, a girl my father had hired to help take care of me when I was a boy. As fast as it had come, the memory retreated.

I threw my head back and the animal raged to the surface, screaming in pain with a grief so black I was a helpless passenger in my own body. I lowered Rogue back to the ground and stalked across the clearing, intent on finding someone I could blame for this. Angela had mentioned that Asp was around here somewhere, too. As soon I found him, I was going to rip him to shreds. He might be like me in a lot of ways, with the healing factor and all, but even I knew I couldn't survive having all my guts removed. There wouldn't be a piece of him big enough to fill a thimble when I was done with him. I felt the animal taking more control and I welcomed it. I didn't get very far when I heard a sound over the rain and I spun around to face it.

"Logan?" I heard a voice say but the animal didn't recognize it. A brief flicker of lightning illuminated the figure in front of me. A little over five feet tall, long brown curls streaked with bright orange that was now running in rivulets down her face. Clad in a black leather uniform with gray piping, I also noticed her boots were toeless. I took a couple steps forward and managed to control the animal long enough to make the connection.

"Angela?" I asked, but I couldn't make the claws go away.

"Logan, I know what's happened. I just found her myself. Look, we have to get back to the mansion. The jet's not too far away. Come on."

"No. I'm not goin' back there til I kill that bastard!"

"Logan, he didn't kill her! I don't what did but it wasn't him!"

"How do you know he didn't cause this, huh? Just cuz she ain't got a mark on her? No obvious wounds? He coulda done anythin' to her, poisoned her! But he's gonna pay for this!"

"Logan, we don't have time for this! We have to get her back to the mansion. We can…"

"I don't give a fuck!" I shouted, the animal raging close to the surface again. "I ain't goin' nowhere til that bastard's dead!"

"Logan, you can't do that. We…I'm sorry, but we saw a chopper take off a few minutes ago. Tigress is gone too, we didn't leave anyone there to watch her. We don't know where they went."

The rage flooded over me again and I lashed out with my claws at the trees around me, howling with my grief. Angela simply stood there, unflinching, as she watched my display of emotion. I didn't care what she had to say; I wasn't going back to that house. Every moment that passed left me more and more feral until there was precious little of the man left inside. Once the foliage around us had been decimated, I turned to her as my last target. I approached her slowly, stalking her like prey. But in my rage I had forgotten that she had all the same training I did and she was ready for me.

"Logan, I don't want to hurt you. But I will if I have to. Maybe you can hurt me more with your claws, but I won't go down without a fight. Now are you coming back home with me or not?" I don't know what she saw in my eyes, but she relaxed a fraction from her defensive pose. "Logan?"

"I'm Wolverine." I snarled and the man retreated completely.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Epilogue

(Angela)

The last thing I remember before waking up in the mansion was Logan's fist flashing out, his face contorted in a snarl. Lightning flared as the fist connected with my head and everything went black. I came to five hours later and the first thing I noticed was how cold I was. It wouldn't be until later that I realized it was because there was a hole deep in my soul, a hole that was there because Logan wasn't.

"She's awake." I heard a voice say and turned my head to see Josh standing there, Sam just behind him. "How are you feeling?"

"Where's Logan?" I asked, sitting up. Josh looked at Sam, who nodded. Josh backed up a little before turning to leave the room. Sam took my hand gently and looked down. I swallowed hard, starting to panic. "Sam, where's Logan?"

"Angela…we don't know." He whispered. "The Professor can't find him with Cerebro."

Tears fell unbidden down my face, splashing on the back of his hand. "What? How can that be?"

"What happened out there?" He asked gently. I wiped at my tears as I recounted the story. When I finished, he nodded and looked away again. "That's what Charles thought. Logan's mind…he thinks that Logan's memory is coming back, too fast for him to deal with it. He thinks Logan has gone completely feral."

"Oh gods!" I whispered, falling back on the table. My tears came faster and I shook all over, frozen to my core. "Sam, we have to get him back!"

"I know, Angela. But you need to rest. We have to wait a few days. The weather up there's taken quite a turn and it's snowing now."

"I don't fucking care! I'm not leaving him out there!"

"We won't! I swear to you, we'll find him if we have to walk the whole way there, ok?" I nodded weakly and he took me gently into his arms, stroking my back to give me whatever comfort he could. He held me until I'd cried myself out completely and I curled up on the table, exhausted. "Feel better?"

"No." I said with a sniffle. "But I'll be ok."

"Ok."

I sat up suddenly, feeling like the world's biggest heel. "Oh shit! How's Rogue?"

"That's the other bad news." My face fell and he gasped. "Oh no! Not that, she's not dead. Josh…that kid's amazing. I don't know how he did it, but he brought her back. She's alive, but she's in a coma."

"What? How?"

"Josh did it. As he was healing her, he said that it looked to him like she'd suffered an aneurysm in her brain. Said that it was probably so quick she didn't even know what happened. He also said that had we been any later, he might not have been able to bring her back."

"So, why isn't she waking up?"

"As far as we can tell, she's not waking up because she doesn't want to. At least, that's the best that Charles can come up with. He's tried to reach her, but he's had no luck so far."

I lowered my head and swallowed as more tears threatened to fall. "This is bad, Sam. I don't think anyone can reach her, except maybe Logan."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

We sat there in silence for a long time, both of us lost in our own thoughts. About an hour later, we heard the doors open and Charles came in with Storm. "How are you my dear?" He asked as Sam moved aside, slipping his arm around Storm's waist.

"Terrible." I replied as he took my hand. "I have to find Logan."

"I know and I'm not going to try and stop you. But I insist you at least wait until the weather up there improves a little." I opened my mouth to protest but he held up a hand to stop me. "No, I don't mean waiting until spring, but at least until the storm up there has passed, which should be about three days. Until then, I want you to rest and decide who you'll take with you." I nodded and he patted my hand again before going over to where Rogue lay, taking position by her head and closing his eyes.

Sam helped me get back upstairs to the room I shared with Logan, leaving me alone. I stripped down and took a long, hot shower, trying desperately to warm the icy pit in the center of my being. I stayed in there until the water ran as cold as my soul, stepping out and drying off mechanically. Once back in the bedroom, I started to reach for my underwear and tank top, but stopped myself and went to the closet instead. I reached in and pulled out a red flannel shirt that Logan had last worn. I clutched it to my chest, inhaling deeply. I could still smell him on it, that combination of cigar smoke, male sweat and just a hint of feral musk that was all HIM. I slipped into it, wrapping it around my body before lying down on the bed. I pulled his pillow out and curled myself around it, my body shaking with silent sobs. I hadn't spent a night without him in so long that I didn't think I'd be able to sleep at all, but eventually I exhausted myself and fell into a fitful slumber.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_He's running through the forest, tracking his prey. He has the scent fixed in his memory, there's nowhere it can go where he can't find it. Snow covers the ground and falls in thick flakes from the sky, but he's not affected by the cold. He will never stop until his prey is brought down. He runs for hours until he's overcome by exhaustion and he has to find a place to rest for at least a little while._

_He finds a cave and by the smell it has most recently been used a lair for another predator. But the scent is faint, this place has been empty for a long time. He crawls towards the back and curls up, resting his head on one of his arms. When sleep finally overcomes him, flashes of memory assault him and he flinches in his sleep at what he sees._

_A man breaks into his home and he kills the intruder with the claws that suddenly erupt from his hands._

_A beautiful woman with red hair, accidentally impaled on his claws, dies in his arms._

_A pack of wolves accepts him as one of their own, the leader, the Alpha male._

_Another woman with red hair, holding off massive flood waters with a single gesture._

_Silken brown curls cascading over his chest, hazel eyes twinkling as she moves in rhythm with him, gasping with pleasure._

_Meditating in the midst of a cherry orchard in full bloom, his _sensei_ somewhere behind him._

_A sudden eruption from a mountain causes him to accidentally slash an opponent, failing the test of honor._

_There's more, much more and it comes so fast he can't process it even in his dreams. He whimpers as though he's in pain, his hands coming up to clutch at his hair. He pushes these visions aside as well as he can, letting the simpler part of his nature take over and he finally falls into a deeper sleep, his thoughts focused on one thing. The hunt._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The End.

(For now)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** Well, faithful readers, that's it...the end of this story...in my defense, this is where it wanted to end, so please don't spend the next 12 days or so angry with me for leaving you this way...i swear, there's another story being written right now, so this is definitely NOT the end of the saga...i don't know how much longer it will be, that's up to Angela and the rest...as soon as my muse stops talking to me about them, i'll stop writing about them...I hope you've enjoyed this part of the journey as much as i enjoyed writing about it...i leave for vacation tomorrow (aug. 7), i'll be back on the 18th or 19th and i'll upload the first bit of the next story as soon as i unpack...:) I can't thank all of you enough for sticking with me!


End file.
